Paris's Year of Festivals: Three to Know

Follow the Paris year through its performances and festivals. Dates shift a little from year to year, so always confirm the exact schedule of any festival you're interested in. Here are three that are closely tied to the performing arts and that I especially love.

First up is the Festival d'Avignon. It takes over the whole of Avignon, a city in southern France that keeps its medieval charm, about two to three hours from Paris by train and not far from Aix-en-Provence, famous for its lavender. When you arrive, you first notice the quiet, picturesque streets, and then the sheer number of show posters plastered everywhere. The festival was founded in 1947 by director Jean Vilar with the goal of "creating theater that everyone can enjoy," and today it ranks alongside the Edinburgh Festival as a major international event in the performing arts. It opened with Shakespeare's Richard II in the Cour d'honneur of the Palais des Papes, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and that courtyard has remained the festival's central stage ever since. I once saw a show in the temporary theater set up in the courtyard, and I was struck first by its scale and then by how beautifully nature and theater come together. Watching a performance with some 2,000 other people under a starry night sky is unforgettable. Every piece I saw there contained a good deal of action and dialogue that could be called blasphemous, and that irony and freedom of expression felt fresh and powerful.

From the mid-1960s, new venues began to appear, mostly historic buildings that weren't built for performance but transform each summer into inventive theater spaces, turning Avignon into a "city theater." The festival has two main parts. The first is the In Festival, made up of around 40 officially invited productions plus readings, exhibitions, film screenings and debates. The Palais des Papes shows belong here. Many works are world or French premieres, so it serves as a crucial launchpad for new playwrights, directors and actors. The second is the Off Festival, a fringe event open to professional companies and amateurs alike, with around 1,000 companies and artists taking part every year. Because it's an international event, most In Festival shows come with English surtitles, which makes it a rewarding challenge. In shows sell out quickly, so buy tickets early if you're interested. And even in summer, nights get chilly, so bring a warm jacket.

Second is the Fête de la Musique. Held every June 21, the summer solstice and the start of summer, it runs on the motto "everyone can make and enjoy music, anywhere." It's held simultaneously in about 120 countries. It started in France: in 1982, then Minister of Culture Jack Lang launched it, and it spread around the world to become a global symbol of music celebration. At last year's festival, I remember a violinist playing out of a window. DJs were spinning on café terraces here and there, and people were dancing to electronic music along the Seine. The program is so varied, with dance performances too, that some of my friends study the schedule in advance and spend the whole day crisscrossing Paris to tick off as many acts as possible. The day is filled with energy from morning to night, and the metro even runs late into the night just for this occasion.

Third is the Festival d'Automne. Founded in Paris in 1972, this contemporary arts festival presents innovative, experimental work across many disciplines. It began at the request of former French president Georges Pompidou, as part of an effort to establish Paris as an international arts center.