What if for a weekend you went behind the scenes of the ” World “ ? To celebrate the 80th anniversary of the newspaper and the 10th anniversary of the Festival, come and take part in a hundred events, debates, workshops, meetings, competitions, but also shows and concerts.
For three days, the square, located under the arch of our impressive bridge building, becomes the vibrant heart of the festival. “town square” where festival-goers find themselves in a unique setting, imagined by the designers of Studio 5.5 using waste from the Monde printing press, which has been turned into stools, bar tables, tables and signage panels. It is in this freely accessible space that you can meet and interact with the editorial journalists, but also attend shows, concerts and performances.
Starting with the theatrical audacity of the Nuit Orange collective, which chose to delve into the archives of Le Monde for eighty years of firsts. “smart phone”first “skewer”first “armistice”… Saturday and Sunday, between 1 and 4:30 p.m., come and guess when and on what occasion these words were first written in the newspaper, in funny, lively and intelligent sketches.
On Saturday 21 September, in the evening, under the lights of the Arc de l’Etoile, singer Yael Naim will offer festival-goers a unique intimate concert. Music from elsewhere will resonate beneath the square: the travelling jazz of Amine Mezaache and the Maracuja Quartet from Rio to Manaus via Conakry (Friday at 7pm), and the Brazilian popular music of Maïcé, with pianist Philippe Powell (Saturday at 7pm).
Hip-hop and breakdance
Dance and movement will also be in the spotlight throughout the weekend, with young talents that Le Monde has chosen to programme. On Friday 20 September from 5.30pm, come and discover the hip-hop virtuosity of Solal Mariotte, who in 2025 will dance a duet with the great Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. Ukrainian dancer Olga Dukhovnaya will perform the entire corps de ballet of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, before Valentine Nagata-Ramos and the Uzumaki company will introduce you to the secrets of breakdancing, the star discipline of the Paris Olympic Games.
They electrified the opening ceremony of the Games: Brandon Masele and the Mazelfreten company will be on the square on Sunday evening for an initiation and demonstration of electro dance. The body, its challenges, its limits: this is also what the circus artists Marica Marinoni and Juan Ignacio Tula will explore, through their Cyr wheel shows (Sunday, 5.30 pm), as if in weightlessness.
After having had a good time with the artists, it will be the turn of the festival-goers to give in. As night falls, the square in front of Le Monde will be transformed into… a huge dance floor! On Friday evening with the eco-friendly disco-house-techno trio Club 2050, on Saturday with our in-house DJ, Jean-Guillaume Santi, who mixes pop from Britney, Rihanna and Madonna like never before. And on Sunday to close the Festival with the electro DJ Set from the company Mazelfreten. Ready, set? Dance!
Find the complete Festival du Monde programme here.
