Fête de la Musique

If you're in Lyon during the Fête de la Musique, you'll hear music, from opera to jazz, echoing through the city. The Fête brings big names to major venues, accordionists to street corners and choirs to church halls.

It all began in October 1981, when Maurice Fleuret became Director of Music and Dance. He expressed the desire to "be the director of all kinds of music, from the accordion to the recording industry". In 1982 he made a study of the cultural habits of the French, to find that five million people - including one child out of two - played a musical instrument. He also wanted to find a way to bring people and their music out on to the streets. Three weeks later the Fête de la Musique was born.

The musicians are a mix of professionals and amateurs and the festival policy is to give an equal place to amateur musicians, rock, jazz, singing and traditional music, all of which are given a chance to be heard alongside so-called "serious" music.

Events take place not just in Lyon but all over France and it is common for musicians to return to their home towns to perform.

The event has become a social phenomenon (it even had a postage stamp devoted to it in 1998) and its success has been exported to other cities across Europe, San Francisco, New York and Manila, not to mention Brazil and Colombia.

Make the most of the carnival atmosphere in the city and while you travel to and from the different venues make sure you check out the many and varied alternative gigs staged in local bars and cafes. This is not to be missed.