Parfums de Musiques

Parfums de Musiques: World Music Blossoms in the Rose Garden

Since 2003, the Parfums de Musiques festival has found its dream setting in the Roseraie Val-de-Marne open-air theatre, located at rue Albert Watel in L'Haÿ-les-Roses (94240). This unique festival blends two passions: the beauty of roses — the Roseraie Val-de-Marne is one of the most beautiful rose gardens in the world, with over 3,200 varieties — and the richness of traditional music from all corners of the globe.

World Music in a Rose Garden

The programming of Parfums de Musiques embraces the most diverse musical traditions: Brazilian and Argentine music, Cape Verdean morna, Afro-Peruvian, Guadeloupean, Kurdish, Iranian... Each concert is an invitation to travel, an opening to sonic cultures little known in the West, presented with the passion and expertise of the artists who carry them.

ADIAM 94 (Departmental Association for Musical Information and Actions), the festival organizer, is an organization specializing in the democratization of musical practice in Val-de-Marne. Parfums de Musiques is one of its flagship initiatives for the dissemination of world music, organized in partnership with the Department of Val-de-Marne and its Directorate of Green Spaces and Landscape.

International Renowned Artists

Throughout its editions, the festival has hosted leading artists from the world music scene. In 2017, the Afro-Peruvian singer Susana Baca — former Minister of Culture of Peru and ambassador of Black music — graced the Rose Garden with her luminous presence. The Pernambouc Quartet brought the frenetic rhythms of Northeast Brazil, the duo Sandra Rumolino & Kevin Seddiki revisited Argentine tango, while the Daniel Mille Quintet offered a tribute to Piazzolla. A special Guadeloupe evening concluded the edition with Soft and K'Koustik.

The festival edition also hosted the Kurdish project Nishtiman, formed at the crossroads of musical traditions from Iranian and Iraqi Kurdistan, demonstrating the geographical and cultural openness that defines the programming.

An Accessible and Enchanting Festival

One of the major assets of Parfums de Musiques is its exceptional affordability: concerts are offered at symbolic prices of 3.10 euros for a full ticket and 1.55 euros for a reduced ticket, making the discovery of world music accessible to all budgets. The Roseraie open-air theatre, with its covered stage and open-air seating surrounded by blooming roses, offers a unique sensory setting: the perfume of flowers mingles with sounds from around the world, creating a total aesthetic experience.

The festival concerts take place in the evenings in June, taking advantage of the long summer nights to extend the magic of the place. The atmosphere is always warm and relaxed, conducive to musical discovery and encounters between audiences from very different backgrounds.