Fête de la Musique: A Celebration of Music On Film

Every June 21st, the world celebrates World Music Day, more commonly known as "Fête de la Musique". People take to the streets as musicians from all walks of life serenade their cities and towns with beautiful music. Starting in France but soon becoming an international event, many cities and towns have their own way of celebrating this day dedicated to music. With Lomography's international community, we take time to look at a mix of Fête de la Musique celebrations and the many film photos devoted to celebrating all forms of music around the world.

With its inception in 1981 by Jack Lang, then the French Minister of Culture, and Maurice Fleuret, the Director of Music and Dance, Fête de la Musique aimed to be an all-day music festival during the first day of the summer solstice. A survey conducted during those years surprised them as they found out that one out of two French nationals knew how to play an instrument. For the longest time, they thought music events and concerts only interested a select few but after this survey, they realized a majority of the population would be interested in more accessible music events. With this, the event we now know as Fête de la Musique was born with streets and other public spaces being open for musicians of any age and genre to perform.

Over the years it has become more than just a French celebration, with almost every country having its own version of the celebration. On a personal note, one of the reasons I got more in touch with the music scene was through my country's celebration of Fête de la Musique. Despite not having many public spaces Fête would be celebrated in the most random spaces from warehouses, malls, and any bar that was willing to accommodate the different genres and organizers during that day. When I was in high school Fête was my only opportunity to experience the music scene. I could really see how the community would come together to celebrate all forms of music. Experiencing this celebration of music is something truly magical and will open your eyes and ears to how much creativity and power music has to shape each and every one of us.

Beyond Fête, Lomographers have captured many great music moments over the years. From giant festivals such as Wonderfruit and Primavera to intimate gigs at their local dive bar. And of course concert ground music has always had a strong relationship with photography. Blurred images, lowlight photography, under and over exposed rolls – shooting concerts isn't always pretty but the results will be something memorable. As we celebrate Fête de la Musique we encourage you to keep on shooting and supporting not just the big international acts but also the smaller independent and niche scenes that your city might offer. Documenting beautiful moments in these spaces is crucial in order to preserve them.

We thank the many Lomographers who have contributed to countless music-related photos over the years. Would you like to share your favorite music photography moments with us? Comment down below or write to me @rocket_fries0036.

written by rocket_fries0036 on 2023-06-19 #culture #people #places #party #music #rave #street-photography #rock #disco #pop #techno #indie #street-party #fete-de-la-musique