My dear francophiles, francovorous and francophageous friends, in our next episode of Rendez-Vous D’Amérique, we have a short story about how La Fête de la Musique has gone from a French great idea to a worldwide institution.

By establishing the summer solstice as a day of free music on the streets, in theaters, in operas, and on all the stages of France, Jack Lang, François Mitterrand’s minister of culture, probably didn't know that he was starting a worldwide movement.

39 years later, La Fête de La Musique is everywhere. In the U.S. it’s called Make Music Day. It’s not hugely popular yet, but it's getting there.

On June 21^st, there will be music on the streets of New York, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, Detroit and New Orleans. It may be the big party we’re all waiting for.

After all these months stuck at home, waiting for the vaccine, waiting to go outside, believe me, we are ready for a huge block party. Or for a small concert in the park, an opera on the beach, or some krumping downtown (Do people still krump? How about break dancing? Am I that old?)

We are more than ready to party!

The point of La Fête de la Musique when it was created in France was to free musical creativity in the country and to make music accessible to those who couldn’t afford a concert or an opera.

In the U.S., this point couldn’t be more important today. Prices for classical concerts, operas, rock concerts or ballets are often prohibitive. It can range from $80 up to $250 to listen to music. It’s really a problem, especially now when, for a year, we watched concerts online, most of the time for a very small price or for free. Will people go back to paying the before crisis prices? And now that most musical artists make their money with concert revenue, it really is a problem.

Music is not the only art where this could be a problem. Movie theater owners, museum curators, they’re all asking themselves the same question. It’s the post-Covid question that everyone is asking: can we go back to the way it was before? Probably not.

But, you know what, let’s forget about all this for one night. On June 21^st, let’s just have fun listening to all kind of music in all kind of venues. We’ll face the uncertainty of our future another day. For now, let’s just enjoy La Fête De La Musique, let’s dance on Make Music Day, all over the USA and all over the world.

Let’s just party!!!!

To learn more about Francophone music in America, tune in to Rendez-vous d’Amérique on TV5MONDE USA. Click here for more information.

Exploring cultural diversity through film, art, and so much more, Rendez-vous d'Amérique invites you on a journey to discover Francophone culture in America. Your host on this cultural experience is Didier Allouch - reporter, cinephile, and a familiar face on the red carpet. Click here to learn how you can subscribe to TV5MONDE USA and never miss an episode!