Summertime is synonymous with theatre in public gardens, concerts in parks and big-screen cinema under the stars. Here is a quick overview of parisian summer festivals :


Festivals in the park with the family


sous la plageParis in summer is great for families. Festivals galore offer special events, workshops, games and shows, in the capitals parks and gardens.

The festival "Paris quartier d’été" also seeks to bring events to a public that would not normally go to concert or opera performances. So, from 15 July to 9 August, dance, music, theatre, circus, storytelling and other events take place in parks, gardens, on avenues, at monuments and other outdoor venues. For the 20th anniversary of the event, there will be 33 sites, 35 shows, 115 performances and 260 artists. Among the sites hosting events, families will enjoy the Palais-Royal gardens, the garden of the Musée du quai Branly, Saint-Eustache church, the park of Buttes-Chaumont and the Luxembourg gardens.

Some of the summer season’s top events include the festival Sous la plage, which will be held on 12 and 13 July at the port de Javel, a few minutes from the Eiffel Tower and on the lawns of the André-Citroën park. The settingis already a firm favourite with families who enjoy the water fountains where kids love to play and the expansive grassy areas, popular with everyone from tiny tots to adults.For its seventh edition, the festival offers as usual a happy mixture of family, trendy and unusual events. On the programme for Saturday, fun-based electro workshops, offbeat walks and musical embarkations. Sunday will see the highpoint of the festival: a huge dance with the emphasis on the music of Istanbul. Before the concert, from 6pm, adults and children will be able to practice the art of the Turkish tango and Oriental dancing.

Fans of classical music, vocal and instrumental, can attend the 9th edition of the European festival Jeunes Talents, from 10 to 30 July. The Hôtel de Soubise, in the Marais, will be staging outdoor concerts given by 53 young musicians from all over Europe and other parts of the world, from the major conservatoires.

SOUS LA PLAGE (Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 July) Parc André-Citroën, Paris 15th http://www.souslaplageblog.com

JEUNES TALENTS (from 10 to 30 July) Archives nationales, 60 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, Paris 3rd Tel +33 (0)1 40 27 64 19 http://www.jeunes-talents.org

PARIS QUARTIER D’ÉTÉ (from 15 July to 9 August) Tel +33 (0)1 44 94 98 00 http://www.quartierdete.com


A summer music season

jazz villetteMusic has the reputation for calming the spirit, and so you would expect it to have an even greater effect when played outdoors in parks and gardens. This is the idea of the summer season of music festivals in Paris, which feature music from all around the world.

One of the highpoints of summer is the Paris Jazz Festival, which takes place in the gardens of the Parc Floral, to the east of Paris, in the Bois de Vincennes.
The idea is to create different improvised venues within the park: a “Clarière des impros (Impros clearing)” will bring musicians and the public together for improvised workshops whilst the “Jardinophone (gardenophone)” proposes sound structures, world games, special events and instrument making workshops which question the relation between music and nature.

The Classique au vert is another key festival which takes place in the Parc floral every weekend from 1 August to 20 September. Performances take place at 4pm and this year the public will be able to discover Mozart’s Parisian years, the Paris waltz at Vienna, the spirit of the roaring twenties and even the cinema of Vladimir Cosma. There will also be special events linked to the concerts: treasure hunts, pre-concert meetings with a musicologist to gain a better understanding of the concert which follows, walks around the park with botanists and, after the performance, the possibility of meeting some of the performers.

Botany and classical music enthusiasts will also enjoy the 10th edition of the festival Solistes aux serres d’Auteuil. The first part of the festival was held in June and will be followed by a second part from 28 August to 13 September in the wonderful setting of the Auteuil hothouses: these glass and metal structures are surrounded by a richly planted garden. This popular series of concerts with different soloists, mainly pianists, are accessible to all thanks to the moderate cost of tickets (free for children).

The festival Jazz à la Villette attracts the big names in blues, jazz, but also electro and hip-hop from 1 to 13 September. Some 200 artists and 50 groups are expected for this event at the big La Villette park in the north of Paris. Among the line-up: Hank Jones, Ahmad Jamal, Ornette Coleman, Ron Carter, Seun Kuti, Amadou et Mariam, De La Soul, Yael Naim, John Zorn, etc.

PARIS JAZZ FESTIVAL (from 6 June to 26 July) Parc floral, esplanade Saint-Louis (in front of the Château de Vincennes), bois de Vincennes, Paris 12th http://www.parisjazzfestival2009.net

SOLISTES AUX SERRES D’AUTEUIL (second part: from 28 August to 13 September) Jardin des serres d’Auteuil, pavillon des Azalées, 1 av Gordon-Bennett, Paris 16th Tel +33 (0)1 46 32 02 26 http://www.ars-mobilis.com

JAZZ À LA VILLETTE (from 1 to 13 September) Parc de la Villette, Paris 19th Tel +33 (0)1 44 84 44 84 http://www.jazzalavillette.com

CLASSIQUE AU VERT (from 1 August to 20 September) Parc floral, esplanade Saint-Louis (in front of the Château de Vincennes), bois de Vincennes, Paris 12th Tel +33 (0)1 45 43 81 18 http://www.classiqueauvert2009.com


“Cinema paradiso” in Paris

cinéma clair de luneNot to be forgotten amongst the plethora of summer festivals are the outdoor big-screen cinema evenings offered with two major festivals.

The festival Cinéma en plein air takes place in the Parc de la Villette. A huge inflatable screen is installed on the grassy Prairie du Triangle and the public gather to watch films screened daily, from nightfall. Free to the public, each screening gathers hundreds of film buffs who either sit on the grass or hire a deckchair (6.50 euros). This year, the theme of the New World is the common thread which runs through the programme. From 15 July to 16 August, the public will discover great films like “Pirates of the Caribbean” by Gore Verbinski, “Into the Wild”, by Sean Penn, “Broken Flowers”, by Jim Jarmush, “Brokeback Mountain”, by Ang Lee, “Golden Door”, by Emanuele Crialese, “Amistad”, by Steven Spielberg, etc.

The festival Cinéma au clair de lune is celebrating its ninth edition. The particularity of this event, which will take place from 5 to 23 August, is its nomadic character. Every evening, films are shown in a different district of the capital. This year, in places as diverse as the place des Vosges, the Seine quayside and the place des Fêtes, spectators will (re)discover “Boudu sauvé des eaux”, the animation thriller “Renaissance” and films by Claude Berri such as the famous “Tchao pantin”.

CINÉMA EN PLEIN AIR (from 5 to 23 August) Prairie du triangle, parc de la Villette, Paris 19th Tel +33 (0)1 40 03 75 75 http://www.villette.com

CINÉMA AU CLAIR DE LUNE (from 15 July to 16 August) In different districts of Paris http://www.forumdesimages.fr