At the crossroads of Europe, eclectic Main-Square-Festival at the historic Citadel in Arras is one of France’s biggest and best music festivals in July
The organisers of Main-Square-Festival must have thanked the Gods of Live Music when they hit upon Arras in Northern France back in 2004. Neither a soulless stadium nor a muddy field, historic Arras is both beautiful and at the crossroads of London, Paris and Brussels ─ where better to hold one of France’s most eclectic summer music festivals?
Every July, international music acts from rising stars and household names (Lizzo, Christine and the Queens, David Guetta…) to music legends (Coldplay, Radiohead, Green Day, Muse…) have performed on the world stage here at the UNESCO-listed Citadel to combined crowds of 120,000 – kicking off summer by punching the Northern France air in unison – wristbands, phones and shades obligatoires.
And whilst everyone is here to connect through the medium of multi-genre music (dance, rock, hip-hop, indie, electronic…), a festival-lifestyle of camping, street food and relaxation areas completes the heady 3-day experience. If these walls could talk, even Vauban himself – who designed the Citadel back in the 17th century ─ might get the vibes. He might doff his hat too to the event’s spirit of environmental awareness – the music festival’s reforestation programme planted an impressive 3,329 trees in Haiti last time round.
Reaching Main Square Festival couldn’t be easier. Eurostar it to Lille and get an hourly onward train to Arras, or cross to Calais by car with a further 70-minute-drive on the A26 motorway.
Useful information
Tourist Board Information of Arras
Hôtel de ville, Place des Héros
F- 62000 Arras
Tel: +33 3 21 51 26 95
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