‘It’s giving me carnival vibes’: how Fête de la Musique became a must-visit event for the Black diaspora

Begun in 1982, the festival is now a magnet for Black Britons, who spill across Paris enjoying genres from amapiano to zouk. But can it resist commercialisation – and is it getting too big? At 4.45pm in Châtelet, central Paris, a man leans out of his third-floor balcony, blasting EDM from his speakers. A makeshift cardboard sign is strapped to his decks, detailing his Instagram account in capital letters. On both sides of him, his friends hype him up from opened windows, and on the ground a c...

By Panashe Nyadundu