Fête de la Musique

Every year on the summer solstice, something magical happens in Lyon. Musicians of all genres and abilities come out onto the streets and play. The air is filled with music. You can walk, munching on street food, and enjoy performance after performance, or you can simply stay in one place and enjoy a full concert. That's how our evening went; we started out walking, enjoying the pleasures of several bands and music styles, and then we found one ensemble that we couldn't tear ourselves away from, so we stayed there for the rest of the evening.

Kari and Jonathan introduced us to this Lyonnaise tradition, and we roamed the streets together. She put together a wonderful and much more detailed blog posting on the event, but I'll give you a taste here...

1st band of the night, at a pub in Vieux Lyon

Crossing the river, musique in the air...

Big Band Bonanza!


On the banks of the Rhone...

These guys were the hit of the night! We could not pull ourselves away from the artistry of these 4 musicians. They played fast and furiously, definitely some of the most accomplished musicians we've ever heard!

Not a fan of the second-hand smoke, but you've gotta admit, this takes coordination (smoking and fingers flying over the guitar strings)!

...and when we came back to consciousness, the light of day had descended.