Free music festival to bring summer vibes to six Chinese cities

Few things can create better memories than going to concerts with friends or loved ones on balmy summer evenings.

Fete de la Musique, or World Music Day in English, an annual music festival that takes place on June 21, provides people with such an opportunity to enjoy great music – for free.

This year’s festival, scheduled between June 16 and 24, is heading to six Chinese cities – Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Chengdu, Ningbo and Shenyang – with a total of 13 concerts at the iconic venues of each hosting city, such as the Sinan Mansions in Shanghai, the Berlin Square of the Optics Valley in Wuhan, and Dusk Dawn Club and Blue Note in Beijing.

Four French acts – pop songstresses Charlie Motto and Malice, post-punk outfit Structures, and instrumental hip-hop duo Ours Samplus, will share the stage with their Chinese counterparts including post-punk group ROMO, electronic duo Frankfurt Helmet, and jazz band Pierre Pradat Jazz-Funk Sextet.

This marks the return of French musicians to the Chinese Fete de la Musique after a hiatus of three years caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to the French embassy in China, which co-organizes the event with Institut Francais.

Concerts in Shenyang and Wuhan will be live-streamed to a wider audience through LOOK Zhibo, the live-streaming arm owned by music streaming giant NetEase Music.

Initiated by the French Ministry of Culture in 1982, the festival aims to stimulate the French music scene by holding all types of concerts accessible to a wide audience. Now it has become a global event celebrated in more than 450 cities of about 100 countries.

Arranged as part of the Festival Croisements, Fete de la Musique has gained ground in China since it was held in Wuhan 2007 for the first time.