Don't Miss

France Rocks Summer Fest, Largest Festival of French Music in the U.S., Announces 5th Anniversary Line-up

By Kath Galasso on May 31, 2022

Taking over NYC with a series of high-profile French artists, the festival will culminate with a celebration at Central Park’s SummerStage marking the 40th Anniversary of La Fête de la Musique

France Rocks Summer Fest will take over New York City in June for its fifth annual celebration, highlighting the rich diversity of music from France. Featuring 15 concerts across Brooklyn and Manhattan, with a high-profile line-up of electronic, jazz, world music, and pop/rock artists, the festival will culminate with a celebration at Central Park’s SummerStage, featuring the legendary hip hop artist MC Solaar, the Nice-based electropop artist Hyphen Hyphen, and the electro-pop trio Bon Entendeur. Co-presented with FiAF (French Institute Alliance Francaise), the SummerStage concert will also mark the 40th Anniversary of La Fête de la Musique, an international celebration of music.

“We are thrilled to celebrate the 5th edition of France Rocks Summer Fest and the return of live music to New York City, which is once again thriving,” said founder Michele Amar. “I am proud to present this diverse group of edgy, up-and-coming artists and can’t wait to witness the beautiful energy of audiences enjoying this tremendous music.”

The month-long music festival—the largest of its kind in the US— highlights the most exciting music coming out of France today, as well as international artists who draw their inspiration from French culture. Attracting more than 50,000 music lovers from all backgrounds, free and ticketed shows will be held at eight venues across Manhattan and Brooklyn, ranging from the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, (Le) Poisson Rouge, and Brooklyn Steel to more intimate performance spaces.

For its fifth annual event, France Rocks Summer Fest is presenting its most eclectic roster of music to-date, a broad range of artists spanning gypsy jazz, electro-pop, Latin inspired French music, and more. Highlights of this year’s festival include one of France’s most influential hip hop artists MC Solaar, the French psych-punk rock band La Femme, the punk and electonic-influenced classical composer Yann Tiersen, the French jazz guitarist Stéphane Wrembel, the Brooklyn-based, Latin inspired outfit Las Rubias del Norte, the Haitian singer Emeline Michel, and many more. Strong supporters of the LGBTQ+ community, the female fronted electro-pop outfit Hyphen Hyphen will be featured during the June 21st Central Park SummerStage performance in celebration of Pride Month.

Over the past five years, France Rocks Summer Fest has hosted more than 100 concerts across more than 25 venues and parks in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx and featured such cutting edge artists as Phoenix, Air, Matthieu Chedid, IAM, Stromae, CharlElie Couture, Wax Tailor, Angelique Kidjo, La Femme, Yael Naim, Ibeyi, Yann Tiersen, Rone, Tony Allen, Ala.Ni, Her, Emilie Simon, and Ayo.

This year’s festival is supported in part by the city programming initiative NY Music Month, the official celebration of New York City’s vibrant and dynamic music ecosystem. The month-long series aims to support songwriters, established musicians, emerging artists, and NYC’s entire musical community, many of whom were severely impacted by the pandemic. For more information, visit www.nymusicmonth.nyc

France Rocks SummerFest is also supported through partnerships with France Rocks, French Institute Alliance Francaise, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, Make Music New York, French Morning, A2IM Indie Week, SummerStage in Central Park, and the Lincoln Center.

FRANCE ROCKS SUMMER FEST 2022 LINEUP:
Sat, June 4^th – Las Rubias del Norte @ Barbes – 8PM
Sun, June 5^th – La Femme @ Brooklyn Steel – 8PM
Fri, June 10^th – Clovis Nicolas @ Blue Note Jazz Club – 12:30PM & 2PM
Sun, June 12^th – Stephane Wrembel @ Barbes – 8PM
Mon, June 13^th – Kid Francescoli / Kids Return @ Elsewhere – 8PM
Wed, June 15^th – Mamady Kouyate @ Barbes – 10PM
Thurs, June 16^th – Laura Perudin @ David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center – 7PM
Cosmic Garden @ David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center – 8PM
Emeline Michel @ Chelsea Factory – 8PM
Fri, June 17^th – Emeline Michel @ Chelsea Factory – 8PM
Tues, June 21^st – Hyphen Hyphen @ SummerStage in Central Park – 7PM
Bon Entendeur @ SummerStage in Central Park – 8PM
MC Solaar @ SummerStage in Central Park – 9PM
Wed, June 22^nd – Rone @ (Le) Poisson Rouge – 8.30PM
Helene Gillet @ Barbes – 8PM
Fri, June 24^th – Yann Tiersen @ Brooklyn Steel – 9PM
Sun, June 26^th – Sedi Dona Balkan Band @ Barbes – 8PM
Wed, June 29^th – Laura Perudin @ Drom – 7.30 PM

For more information, please visit the FRANCEROCKS SUMMERFEST official website: https://www.francerocks.com/summerfest2022/

ABOUT FRANCE ROCKS SUMMER FEST
The largest festival of Francophone music in the U.S., France Rocks Summer Fest highlights the rich diversity of music from these countries featuring Free and Ticketed concerts across 25 New York venues. The festival presents a high-profile lineup of diverse artists for a series of concerts showcasing the best of French electronic, Jazz, World Music, Pop and Rock artists across multiple cultures in iconic New York venues throughout June. This year’s fifth edition will culminate with La Fête de la Musique 40th Anniversary co presented with French Institute Alliance Française NY and SummerStage in Central Park, and in partnership with Make Music NY and Villa Albertine