Big Music Fest in Arles July 11 to 17

Every summer...for seven days and six nights...from 10 am to 4 am...the city of Arles welcomes Le Suds à Arles, a festival of world music that grows in size and reputation each year. This year (the 21st annual), 60 or so performances are scheduled and roughly 60,000 people are expected. The dates are July 11 to 17.

Venues around Arles (designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site), include the majestic Théâtre Antique (where evening concerts will be held July 12, 13, 14 and 15), the Cour de l’Archevêché and the former SNCF railway site known as the Parc des Ateliers (or just "the Ateliers"). See more info about the Ateliers below.

In addition to performances by artists from all over the world, there will be master classes (41 at last count, from beginner to professional), workshops for young people, stages (in music, dance and voice), opportunities to meet the performers and more.

Some special dates to note: On the 11th, there are free concerts in museums; on Saturday the 16th, the whole night (from 9.30 pm) will be held in the Ateliers; and the 17th is a special day in Salin-de-Giraud, in the Camargue.

All the info is on the festival website, with a complete schedule, background on the performers, ticket info, sound clips, maps, etc. The schedule in English is here. 

If you have questions and can't find what you need on the site, the kind folks in the festival office said you can reach out by phone or email and they'll be happy to answer in English.

Maisons des Suds
66, rue du 4 Septembre
13200 Arles
Tel +33 (0)4 90 96 06 27
contact@suds-arles.com

Note: The old train buildings mentioned above are currently being rehabbed by the Luma Foundation, as part of the biggest "patronage" project in Europe, the centerpiece of which is a new building designed by FrankGehry. I'll have all the details on this in a future story but if you are going to Arles for music festival, consider exploring the Luma construction site with a "virtual tour" in French or English. Tours are  just over an hour and all the info is on the Luma site here.