An idea first conceived during the summer and autumn of 2002, the Nuits Sonores festival was always intended to be a platform for sharing ideas, artistic projects and cultural initiatives.
Sixteen years down the line, and the festival is still thriving as a cultural, artistic and urban laboratory. Little by little, with humility and determination, it works to offer a select panorama of cutting edge independent, electronic and digital contemporary culture.
Receptive to modern developments, relevant issues and its own global context, from the very beginning Nuits Sonores has championed forward thinkers and pioneers, seeking out future creations, tomorrow’s artists and emerging aesthetics, forever on the lookout for new uses, fresh faces and innovative practices.
Opening up, crossbreeding, breaking down barriers
The festival espouses the values of openness and cultural crossbreeding, champions the universality of music and encourages artistic interdisciplinarity and decompartmentalisation. It thereby fosters better interaction and a greater variety of experimentation between different creative sectors such as design, imagery, graphics, food culture and temporary architecture.
Inclusive and accessible, Nuits Sonores embraces hospitality and otherness, aiming to bring together a diverse audience that is uninhibited by generational, social or geographical barriers. To create the pleasure that comes from creating shared moments.
This ambition is reflected in the festival’s physical presence at the heart of communities, districts and living environments. Every year, the festival takes place at around forty locations throughout the city, including unique industrial heritage sites, everyday public spaces and iconic landmarks.
A new schedule, new urban spaces
In 2018, Nuits Sonores is taking its time and breaking free from its shackles – 50 years on from May ’68, the temptation to push back the boundaries and move the goalposts was simply too great to resist! Taking advantage of an unprecedented calendar of public holidays (the French will be off work on both Tuesday 8 and Thursday 10 May), the festival will run for eight days.
It will feature an early Sunday Park (6 May) and a fourth NS Days event (8 May). Location-wise, the main night-time venue (Fagor-Brandt) will boast a completely fresh layout and scenography.
More than ever, in 2018, Nuits Sonores will be a unique ephemeral platform celebrating the values of freedom, urban spirit and sharing.
Vincent Carry