Before fall comes around, we'd like to introduce you to several music festivals taking place in France in the second half of August. You can listen to jazz (but not only) in Nice, traditional world music on Tatihou Island, off the Normandy coast, big names in classical music in and around La Chaise-Dieu, electroacoustic music highlighting Japanese artists in Crest, chamber music in Normandy, and pop, rock, rap and electro stars in Mayenne.
Like other events that use the term "jazz" in their name, the Nice Jazz Festival presents musicians whose careers and artistic approaches are not directly linked to it. Sébastien Vidal, the event's artistic director, summed up the purpose of this year's edition, running from August 10 to 23: "It's okay to like Kenny Garrett and Jungle. A Phoenix fan will be happy to discover the Caribbean rhythms of Arnaud Dolmen."
Twenty-four concerts will be spread over two stages, and stylistic crossroads will be everywhere. On the Masséna stage, the American rapper Nas, New Zealander Jordan Rakei, London soul-funk band Jungle, pop-rock-electro group Phoenix and rapper Yamê will perform. At the Théâtre de Verdure, a more intimate venue dedicated to jazz, you'll find the Swiss guitarist Louis Matute's group, American singer Stella Cole, American saxophonist Kenny Garrett in a sextet, drummer Arnaud Dolmen and his Vitygroove, Jamaican pianist Monty Alexander, singer Kareen Guiock Thuram and saxophonist Léon Phal. S. Si.
Nice Jazz Festival, Place Masséna, Nice. August 20 to 23. From €28 to €45, free for children under 3, four-day pass €160.
Sometimes all it takes to stand out from other summer festivals is an original idea. Here in Normandy's Cotentin region, the idea was to take advantage of the high tides in August to organize concerts and balls on Tatihou Island, opposite the small port of Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue. Concerts are timed to coincide with the ebb and flow of the sea.
The music is everywhere: first under the big top planted in the middle of the windswept moor, then accompanying the strolls on the island, which you can reach and leave on foot by walking through the oyster beds at low tide, and continuing on the mainland, in Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue and in the Val de Saire region.
Created by the Manche department, Les Traversées Tatihou, a festival devoted to traditional world music (including emancipated and contemporary forms), is celebrating its 30th edition from August 20 to 25.
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