La fête de la musique is a free public festival celebrating music. It takes place throughout France each year on the summer solstice on June 21st. Both amateur and professional musicians perform during the music festival, which lasts all day and all night.
In October 1981, Maurice Fleuret became Director of Music and Dance at the ministry of culture. Motivated by his lifelong love of music he was determined to bring more music to the whole of the French public.
In 1982 a government study revealed that five million people (including 1 in 2 French children) played an instrument and this encouraged Maurice to find a way of bringing all the people together to enjoy music. Therefore, Maurice Fleuret and the Minister of Culture Jack Lang imagined a big popular event which allows all musicians to express themselves: La fête de la musique.
The popularity of la Fête de la Musique in France became so widespread that it inspired more than 120 countries around the world to adopt the same tradition which is now known as World Music Day.
https://fetedelamusique.culture.gouv.fr/L-evenement/Historique-de-la-Fete-de-la-Musique