Fête de la Musique is back

The Alliance Française in Gaborone in partnership with Orange Botswana, the European Union and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning will present its 11th session of the Fête de la Musique on June 29th at Botswana Craft from 1430hours until midnight. The festival will feature performances by more than 40 local acts including Shanti-Lo, Kabo Leburu, Amok, K-BOS, Gaone & Jasmine, BDF Band, Samantha Mogwe, Machesa Traditional Group, Mophato Dance Theatre, DJ Spinz and many various musicians, dancers and DJs.

 

The entrance is free on presentation of fl yers which are available at Alliance Française, Orange stores in Gaborone and Botswana Craft. Fête de la Musique is now celebrated in more than 100 countries around the world. Addressing the media at a press conference, the Director of the Alliance Française Antoine Courroy shared the background of the international French musical festival, saying “the original concept of the Fete de la Musique was initiated by the French Minister of Culture, Jack Lang in 1982. The idea was to create a music festival on June 21st, which is the longest day of the year to enable musicians to perform freely in the streets and to give everyone the opportunity to discover different kinds of music.

 

The Alliance Française network, as a cultural exchange institution, is supporting this event in every country where it is established.” “The aim is to promote both amateurs and professionals, to make them meet each other and to offer a diversity of styles to the audience. The gratuity of the event is its universal and uncompromised principle,” he continued. This edition is expected to be the biggest ever as it will offer both the audience and the artists more production values such as a bigger stage, better sound, live video projections and a line-up of 40 local bands. In addition, for the fi rst time ever, there will be a Flash Mob to help promote this event, and dance groups will also participate in the music festival.

 

“To keep the spirit of the Fête de la Musique in France, participants will perform for free and entry will also be free for the audience. The Alliance Française is willing to give the best stage and care to all the performers who kindly agreed to participate for free, from the very new talents to the famous ones.”