France celebrates its 1789 Revolution on July 14th, but there’s a lot more going on around the country throughout the month, from fireworks, to music festivals and other open-air events.
In the Paris region, there’s the annual opening of Paris Plages, artificial beaches created along the Seine and the Bassin de la Villette, complete with sand, beach umbrellas and (hopefully) sun. They open this weekend and last until early September.
Also at La Villette, Paris hosts a month-long outdoor movie festival that’s free to all, with a mix of movies from around the world.
Lavender festivals are a highlight for numbers of towns in Provence, when the crop is at its best. Nearby, in Avignon, there’s a theatre and performing arts festival that runs from the 6th to the 26th, for its 70th year.
Other performing arts festivals run the gamut of styles and tastes. Beaune has a baroque opera festival from July 7 to July 30th; at Chateau de Beauregard, in Normandy, the music runs to rock, pop and indie (July 7-9). If you’ve missed that one, the following week at Le Barcares, Electrobeach is scheduled to be the biggest electronic festival in France.
Or if traditional culture is more to your taste, Bayonne, in the northern part of ‘Basque Country,’ is holding a July 26-30 series of events of Basque food and music, parades, and other celebrations.
For more info and more events from France’s tourism agency, click HERE
Great photo of the lavender field. I remember all the years living in Germany, seemed there were weekly fests going on in our village or in one of the neighboring villages. Any excuse for outdoor music and to gather with current and new friends to drink local wines and beers along with plentiful grilled meats. I truly miss that part of European living. Fests all year long and never a rain date … they just put up tents and partied in the rain. Photo of my wife Diane with two musicians at a wine festival near Stuttgart.