JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Paris is suffering through a record-breaking heat wave. Temperatures reached nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit this month. But on Sunday, that didn't stop crowds from spilling into the streets for the summer solstice, when the whole city threw a giant musical block party. Rebecca Rosman reports.
REBECCA ROSMAN, BYLINE: Let's start with your ears.
(SOUNDBITE OF CALYPSO MUSIC)
ROSMAN: On one corner in Paris, the longest day of the year sounds like this - the upbeat calypso. Walk just a few doors down, and suddenly, it's the fast-moving salsa.
(SOUNDBITE OF SALSA MUSIC)
ROSMAN: Make a turn, and it's an ABBA-inspired disco singalong.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST #1: (Singing, inaudible).
ROSMAN: For over four decades, this is how French people of all ages have welcomed the summer solstice - with an annual celebration of live music and deejay sets called Fete de la Musique. There are no gates, no single stage, no one sound. Bodegas, brasseries, public squares, sidewalks - across the entire city all of it turns into an improvised musical playground. The trick is just to follow whatever catches your ear. You move, you shake and most importantly...
OTHELIA KOBYLARZ: Have fun.
ROSMAN: That's 18-year-old Paris resident Othelia Kobylarz. She is moving through the streets with a big group of friends, and one of them is hoisting a giant speaker above his head.
KOBYLARZ: We just walk around and try to vibe with people in the streets.
ROSMAN: Today, hundreds of Fete de la Musique celebrations take place in cities around the world. But Paris is the biggest, and the idea started here in the mid-'70s when an American named Joel Cohen was working for Radio France and imagined a night when music would pour out into public spaces.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
ROSMAN: In 1982, Paris held its first official celebration. Last year, around 2 million people came out in this city alone. This year, there was another presence in the crowd - the heat. People had to improvise to stay cool.
Now they're spraying water from the rooftops.
Barmen hosed down crowds, deejays set up under thin strips of shade from outdoor scaffolding. And when even that wasn't enough...
(SOUNDBITE OF WATER SPLASHING)
ROSMAN: ...Some jumped into the canals, temporarily opened for swimming. But then evening arrived, a breeze set in, the temperature started to fall, and just before 10:00 p.m., finally, so did the sun.
Oh, the sun is setting on the longest day of the year.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST #2: (Singing, inaudible).
ROSMAN: And the music of Queen set in, with help from a pitch-perfect cover band.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST #2: (Singing, inaudible).
ROSMAN: Rebecca Rosman, NPR News, Paris.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST #2: (Singing, inaudible). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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