Villes des Musiques du Monde

Villes des Musiques du Monde: Thirty Years of World Music in the Suburbs

Born in 1990, the Villes des Musiques du Monde festival is one of the most important events on the world music scene in France. Every autumn, for a month, it transforms concert halls, cultural centers, media libraries, and public spaces in about twenty towns in Seine-Saint-Denis — and beyond — into stages open to music from all over the world.

Supported by the Villes des Musiques du Monde association, based in Aubervilliers, the festival benefits from the support of the Île-de-France Region, the Department of Seine-Saint-Denis, and about twenty partner municipalities. It is organized in close collaboration with local cultural structures, fostering strong territorial roots and widespread reach throughout the department.

A Popular, Rooted, and Innovative Program

The artistic identity of the festival is based on a vision of world music as popular, vibrant, and evolving. Far from any static exoticism, Villes des Musiques du Monde favors artists who dialogue with their tradition while integrating it into the realities of the contemporary world. Music from Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and Asia are presented together in a program that celebrates both diversity and interconnectedness.

Among the emblematic artists who have performed at the festival are Femi Kuti, son of Afrobeat and a living carrier of his father Fela's legacy, Clinton Fearon, a legend of Jamaican reggae, Naïssam Jalal, a Franco-Syrian flutist at the crossroads of jazz and oriental music, and Davide Ambrogio, an interpreter of traditional music from southern Italy.

A Network of Twenty Mobilized Towns

One of the festival's strengths is its ability to mobilize an extensive network of partner municipalities and structures. Aubervilliers, La Courneuve, Aulnay-sous-Bois, Montreuil, Saint-Denis, Stains, Épinay-sur-Seine, Le Blanc-Mesnil, and many other towns host Villes des Musiques du Monde concerts and events each year. This presence across the entire geography of the department allows it to reach diverse audiences, including in neighborhoods not accustomed to major cultural events.

The festival also extends beyond the 93 department, with concerts in Paris and other towns in Île-de-France, confirming its regional influence.

Babel Mômes: An Associated Children's Program

The festival also hosts Babel Mômes, a program specifically designed for young audiences, organized in the spring. This festival of music and shows for children and families, held mainly in Aubervilliers, complements the association's offerings in artistic and cultural education, confirming its mission to reach all audiences, from early childhood to adulthood.

Music as a Vector of Resistance

Each edition of the festival is placed under a theme that gives it a political and social dimension beyond just the musical program. The 2025 edition, titled Résiste! (Resist!), affirmed music as a space for resistance, freedom, and creation against identity-based retreats and forces of cultural homogenization. This committed dimension has been integral to the festival's identity since its origins.