Summer festivals in Paris: Solidays

The best way to have fun during the long summer days in Paris is to visit one of the most popular **music festivals **in the city – Solidays. This 3-day event that takes place every year at the end of June is a perfect opportunity to attend concerts of some most famous French and international musicians such as Vanessa Paradis, Stromae, Lily Allen, Diplo, DJ Snake, etc. But, Solidays is so much more than a simple music festival. Organised by Solidarité sida, a French association created to fight against AIDS, Solidays, a summer festival in Paris, is in the first place focused on educating young people and raising awareness about HIV and collecting money. So, let’s have fun, and at the same time, support a very important cause! 

About Solidays

In 1992, two students, Luc Barruet and Éric Elzière, decided to create Solidarité AIDS, an association to fight against AIDS and to help the victims. To collect money, *Solidarité AIDS *was organizing various cultural events, selling t-shirts and red ribbons, but soon, **Solidays **will become the flagship event of this association. In 1999, the first edition of this festival was organized in the Longchamp Racecourse, located in the southwestern part of the Bois de Boulogne. This horse rise facility, built in 1857 by architect Antoine-Nicolas Bailly, is bringing together each year many French and international musicians and over 200 000 visitors. All the profit of the festival is donated to the AIDS prevention programs, and musicians often perform for free.

Green attitude

Solidays is a festival that takes sustainability seriously. This **music festival **is doing everything to reduce its carbon footprint. On all five stages, LED technology is used to reduce energy consumption, and the festival is equipped with many recycling sites. Also, Solidays has the reducing waste policy and encourage every visitor to adopt an eco-responsible behaviour. On several points, visitors can refill their bottles with fresh drinking water, and that way limit the volume of generated waste. And last but not least, Solidays also fights against food waste. All the unsold food after the festival is redistributed to people who need it most.

Practical information

Solidays, a 3-day summer festival in Paris, is organised every last weekend in June. On Friday, this festival is open from 4 pm to 5 am, on Saturday from 2 pm to 5 am, and on Sunday from 2 pm to 11 pm. Solidays puts at visitor's disposal free shuttles from and to the Porte Maillot metro station and from the festival to the Gare St-Lazare. The visitors with 3-day tickets can also get a Camping Pass. The campsite of Solidays is open from Friday to Monday morning. Solidays also offers a special Kid’s area, a sort of mini-festival imagined especially for children from 3 to 10 years old.