Frankfurt celebrates Fête de la Musique: A step towards musical tradition!

Frankfurt celebrates Fête de la Musique: A step towards musical tradition!

The Fête de la Musique takes place every year on June 21st, which was originally launched in France and has now become an international phenomenon. In over 1,000 cities, including more than 160 in Germany, the joy of music is celebrated in the form of street concerts and large stage events. The goal? Bringing people together and promoting togetherness through music. In Frankfurt, however, the situation is somewhat different, as faz.net reports.

Last Saturday evening the mood in Frankfurt was rather reserved. Many guests lingered on beer benches and it seemed as if the city had yet to find its place at the heart of this musical tradition. During the event days under the motto “Uff die Gass!” Presented concerts from pop to hard rock, some listeners were still uncertain about the concept of the Fête de la Musique. In Alt-Sachsenhausen, for example, music was only made based on the French model, and the first event was organized by Timo Braun, chairman of the “Altsax for Art and Culture” association.

The origin of the festival

The concept for the Fête de la Musique comes from Paris and has been celebrated on June 21st since 1982. Timo Braun, who discovered the concept while on holiday in Montpellier, is now trying to establish Frankfurt as one of the places where this festival is regularly celebrated. So far, however, the efforts to achieve this are still manageable and citizens first have to get used to the idea. Celebrations also took place in the Villa Manskopf in Niederrad, where the big band from the Helmholtzschule played, followed by performances by the duo “L’Heure Bleue” and the trio “Schlaflos”.

The French Marie Truong also attracts particular attention, describing the celebrations in her home country as more spontaneous and lively. While there are still many hurdles to overcome in Frankfurt, the Institut français Frankfurt is already planning its own Fête de la Musique on June 27th, which will be the eleventh edition.

What's next?

The network behind the Fête de la Musique takes care of the organization and coordination of the events in Germany, which is done through the licensing of the MusikZentrum Hannover gGmbH. As they state on their website, the platform is currently being completed to provide a comprehensive overview of global actors, venues and collective actions.

The Fête de la Musique has the potential to grow in Frankfurt and to integrate into city life. We can only hope that in the coming period the city will have a good hand at promoting and establishing the musical spirit that is already very popular in other cities here too.