La Fete de la Musique

about 20 years ago, the then minister for culture (i think) 'implemented' La Fete de la Musique in France: every 21st of June, the whole country would be able to listen to lots of different types of music for free, on the streets of all cities, towns, villages. whilst it's still only the one evening (if it's a working day) in France, the French speaking part of Switzerland has made it much more useful by celebrating music all weekend, from the Friday night to Sunday night. that includes all day Saturday and Sunday. so really LOTS of opportunities to hear lots of music!

yesterday, i was there from 1pm till 12.30am. in that time, i heard 2 classical concerts, 2 jazz concerts, some Argentinian tango, an organ concert in the cathedral, a brass band, and more. it was mostly really good. in between, there was lots of walking, quite a bit of eating and some resting (3 full hours without music). we were two for most of the afternoon, but then joined a group of friends and became about 15 for the rest of the evening, and let me tell you, it's hellish trying to cross the old town at 15 when there are thousands of people around you!