Tag Archives: fete de la music

Arts, Traditions

Arles tunes in

By The Arles Project Staff

Arlesians gathered in the city’s many plazas to enjoy performances from local musicians and students June 21 as part of the nationwide Fête de la Musique.

”It’s alive,” said Arles resident and music student Maria Del Mar. “It is the moment to be. You are concentrating on what you are doing and people are watching and feeling you and exchanging with you.”

Dancers at Place Genive. Photo by Thomas Murphy.

Fête de la Musique has annually animated French streets every June 21 since 1982.

This year, students from Conservatoire du Pays d’Arles, a local music school, showcased their musical talents at Le Capitole in La Roquette.

The eldest of the three sisters, Judith, aspires to specialize in classical music. However, for her, the fun is in the familial aspect of her musical endeavors. “It’s very nice playing with my sisters because I can help them. I really like when we can practice together and play all together.”

Judith and Madeleine Drilleau. Photo by Elizabeth Coleman

Helping her band, The Sheshs, set up, Lisa Guibaud said that this festival is great for the city because it attracts even more tourists to Arles. “It makes the city alive, so it is really cool,” Guibaud said. 

At La Place Voltaire, children gathered to watch and even perform. “If I am in France and there is la Fête de la Musique, I go” said Yodit Kebede, the mother of a young performer. Kebede has been attending the festival since her own childhood.

Children were as engaged as their parents. Photo by Solange Jain.

Young students from a nearby music school came out to perform hit classic rock songs such as “Boys Don’t Cry” by The Cure and “Sultans of Swing” by Dire Straits.

“I think people are drawn to the rhythm,” said Marco Xavier, who was taking in the scene. “Our bodies have a rhythm, too.” This sentiment was also seen in the west end of La Roquette, where residents gathered to sing, dance, and enjoy delicious food. Among the songs sung by the assembled choir was one titled “Gentrifica,” a song that expressed local frustrations with the rising costs of housing due to the spread of Airbnbs.

Guitar detail. Photo by Malcolm Taylor.

Liam Franceschi is a twelve-year-old student at Studio Franceschi, a music studio in Arles, France. He has a variety of talents, including playing the piano, electric guitar and singing, which he has been doing for five years and counting. “I started singing by myself and wanted to start learning the lyrics and sing with other people,” Franceschi said.

His father, the director of the school, has taught him many skills. Liam doesn’t have a favorite genre to play or sing to, but he does not enjoy French rap as much.

Liam Franceschi and a fellow band member. Photo by Karla Valdez.

The celebration brought a stream of business to cafes and restaurants such as Floris Artisan Glacier in the Place de Republique. “It is the opening of the season, it is the moment where people start to come and all and it is a festivity when all the bars and restaurants start to organize everything,” said Pascal Jeom-Phillipe.

Left to right: Bruno Arnold, Pascal Jeom-Philippe and Edwin Noel. Photo by Sophia Maxim.

The day ended with a collective concert held by Rockette Records in front of the Saint-Trophime Primital Church in Place de la République, with flashing lights, and fog for a rave. The featured performers were Makassa, Vax Populi, Bison Bison Falling Down, Salah, and DJ Transition. The energy of the crowd was electrifying with people standing on top of each other and screaming their hearts out all night long.

The evening ended with a blast. Photo by Autumn DeGrazia.

Video by Hannah Levitan

Reported by Thomas Murphy, Karla Valdez, McCade Hayes, Morgan Lily Neuhauser, Lydia Perez, and Judas Wiley. Featured image by Surya Vaidy.

Traditions

Dancing in the Streets

The streets of Arles transformed into music halls on June 21 as the town joined in the annual French celebration of Fête de la Musique. Some of the musicians and their audience shared stories with our reporters.

Photo and interview by Sophie Wyckoff

Janis and Jacques Lemay are Canadian tourists who traveled to Arles, France, for their third time to feel the words, rhymes, and beats of la Fête de la Musique. They intended to listen to only La Chorale Coeur Escandihando at 3 p.m. but stayed and listened to a Latin-American choir until 6:30 p.m. Janis explained how the pianist was so theatrical that she “stood up screaming and cheering” once the conductor signed for the end of the song. The couple is already planning to travel to Arles for the fourth year in a row.

Photo and interview by Sam Guzman

Juan San Juan, 79 and retired, has lived in Arles for 24 years. He goes to Fête de la Musique sporadically. “I’m alone, all of my friends are in Spai, so I just occasionally come to enjoy. Look around, it’s Wednesday night and there are people from everywhere, on every street.”

Photo and interview by Destene Savariau

Wissem Agagg of Arles performed at the festival with other rappers. “It’s a party. Friends, music and lit vibes.”

Photo and interview by Louis Denson

Lous Martial has traveled far and wide over the last 50 years. He lived in France from 1970 through 1993 before traveling from New York to Vermont, India, and Morocco. Returning to Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône five years ago, he has made yearly trips to Arles to enjoy and participate in La Fête de la musique. Martial plays blues and electric music with a friend who plays the bass. Rather than performing cover music or their own composed pieces, the duo prefer to jam and let the music take them where it leads. “It could go for hours.” 

Photo and interview by Ella Ehlers

Sebastian Denez is a member of a band in Arles and he plays the drums. The band plays a lot of old music and they play Spanish songs a lot too. ”Sharing energy is what I like to do and the drums allow me to do so.”