On the eve of France's annual Fête de la Musique street festival, Mathilde Caillard, a self-proclaimed "techno-activist" known by the pseudonym "MC Danse pour le climat" appealed to music professionals on Instagram. "Many of you will have a microphone in your hands. Today, in France, many people would like to have a microphone to say how serious the moment is, and encourage people to go out and vote to beat the far right."
A techno remix of Bérurier Noir's 1984 anti-Le Pen hit, "La jeunesse emmerde le Front national," was produced for the occasion by a member of the Planète Blum Blum collective. However, the 42nd Fête de la Musique on Friday, June 21 did not turn into a moment of political mobilization in the streets of Paris.
Around the Parisian squares where demonstrations traditionally take place, the mood was festive. Didier, 51, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and straw hat, sipped a mojito in front of a Cuban music concert on the Rue de la Fontaine-au-Roi in the 11th arrondissement, next to Place de la République. "Let's forget the elections, we're here to dance, aren't we?" he declared in a rallying gesture. Glasses filled with beer glistened in the sun. A queue formed in front of a pizzeria. Rap producer and composer The Alchemist dedicated T-shirts to a crowd of young people on the sidewalk. Among the passers-by, a few French football team jerseys reminded us that the Euro match pitting France against the Netherlands was taking place at the same time.
A stone's throw away, on the Boulevard Saint-Martin, 34-year-old Juana Sainte-Marie, in a neon-green wig with rhinestones glued to her teeth, has set up a mixing table in front of the hair salon she opened eight months ago. At the back of this "multifunctional and multicultural place where all hair types are welcome" sits a wig in the colors of the Palestinian flag. "We mustn't forget what's going on right now," she said. "But we're not going to talk politics tonight. It's a party, a moment we're offering to our colleagues and passers-by."
Shortly before the festivities got underway, 38-year-old chef Yael Sainte-Rose accompanied a gospel group as they gave a concert at Place de la Bastille. For him, the evening was an opportunity to "get out of the house, and out of the current political context." Bewildered by the array of political groups standing for election, he still didn't know which party to vote for. "Left, right, front, back, we don't know who to trust anymore. It's a game of chess with our lives," he said.
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