La Fête de la Musique Music Festival Annually, June 21

Every year on the 21st of June, Paris explodes with a wide range of music events and festivities that are all part of La Fête de la Musique, a citywide homage to World Music Day.

Founded in 1982 by France’s then Minister of Culture – who was inspired by an original concept developed by American musician Joel Cohen in the 70s – La Fête de la Musique has since spread to cities all over the globe, and remains an incredible chance to see free concerts all over the City of Light.

Finding a place to catch a Fête de la Musique show isn’t difficult, as pretty much every neighborhood in Paris takes part in the event, with hundreds of bars, cafés, restaurants, and traditional live music venues hosting bands that perform in practically any style imaginable.

Even the streets get busy with performers at La Fête de la Musique, and many locations stay bustling well into dawn as thousands of people gather to take part in the fun.

Museums, train stations, castles, parks, and even prisons are known to host a Fête de la Musique concert, so your best bet is to check the latest calendar to see who is playing where. Organizers usually post an up-to-date program up to a month in advance.

Better yet, just venture out completely blind and eventually stumble in to the best band you never knew existed! And there are always a lot of impromptu performances happening that are not on the calendar as well.

Just keep in mind that, with so much going on all over Paris, you can expect the metro to be packed – even more than it normally is – on June 21st.