Fête de l'Humanité

Fête de l'Humanité
The Fête de l'Humanité (English: Festival of Humanity) is an event organised annually by French daily newspaper L'Humanité in order to fund itself. It is the largest popular gathering in France.
L'Humanité was created in 1904 by French socialist Jean Jaurès, but the first fête de l'Humanité took place in September 1930 to raise funds for the newspaper L'Humanité and 1000 people attended it. In 2010, the festival attracted 600,000 visitors. A new record was set in 2018, when 800,000 visitors participated in the festival.
The festival is organized and held almost exclusively by volunteers, since it exists to fund the newspaper.
Hundreds of stalls are scattered around the venue offering food and drinks with the stall holders coming from all over the world to be part of the event. The fête is a unique mix of politics and entertainment, with concerts happening alongside many debates, art exhibits, movies, etc. Because of the close relationship between l'Humanité and the French Communist Party, most of the volunteers are communists, even though most of the attendees are not.
The festival comprises many stages (Grande Scène (main stage), scène Zebrock (rock stage), scène reggae, P'tite Scène (smaller stage), and tens of smaller stages inside stalls). The Main Stage can accommodate about 100,000 spectators.
Due to its size, this festival is considered the kickoff of the left-wing's "political year" each year in September. Tens of thousands of left-wing activists gather there to celebrate and debate (from many political currents: communists, but also social-democrats, anarchists, Trotskyists, sympathizers of the left wing, etc.). They forget their disagreements for a festive weekend and get energized to start the year.
The festival is usually attended by the main figures of the French left wing (leaders of the French socialist party, Jean-Pierre Chevènement, Arlette Laguiller, Olivier Besancenot, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, etc.) as well as famous journalists (Edwy Plenel, Guillaume Meurice, etc.)
Artists involved
Many artists such as Roger Hodgson, Léo Ferré, Stevie Wonder, Pink Floyd, The Who, Deep Purple, Jacques Brel, Johnny Hallyday, Renaud, Chuck Berry, Jacques Dutronc, Leonard Cohen, and Joan Baez have performed at this event.
1960
Paul Robeson
Jacques Brel
1961
Léo Ferré
Robert Lamoureux
Catherine Sauvage
1962
Jean Ferrat
Léo Ferré
Georges Brassens
1964
Eddy Mitchell
Charles Trenet
Annie Cordy
Nana Mouskouri
1966
Nino Ferrer
Juliette Gréco
Guy Béart
Hugues Auffray
1968
Mireille Mathieu
1969
Jacques Dutronc
1970
Pink Floyd
1971
Claude Nougaro
Joan Baez
1972
The Who
Mireille Mathieu
Country Joe and the Fish
Golden Earring
Ewa Demarczyk
1973
Chuck Berry
Jerry Lee Lewis
Alan Stivell
Catherine Ribeiro
1974
Leonard Cohen
The Kinks
Mikis Theodorakis
1975
Jacques Higelin
1976
Area
Guy Bedos
Maurice Béjart
Julien Clerc
Louise Forestier
Bernard Lavilliers
Maxime Le Forestier
Bernard Lubat
Claude Nougaro
Quilapayún
Archie Shepp
Mikis Theodorakis
Brenda Wootton
1977
Alan Stivell
Brand X
Joan Pau Verdier
1978
Genesis
1979
Charles Trenet
Catherine Ribeiro
Gilles Vigneault
1981
Ray Charles
1982
Magma
1983
Julien Clerc
Robert Charlebois
1984
The Communards
Nina Hagen
Renaud
1985
Johnny Hallyday
1986
Jacques Higelin
Eddy Mitchell
Sapho (singer)
1987
Demis Roussos
1988
Kassav
1990
Johnny Clegg
Manu Dibango
Dee Dee Bridgewater
Paul Personne
Colin James
1991
Johnny Logan
1992
MC Solaar
The Kinks
Calvin Russell
Bernard Lavilliers
Léo Ferré
1993
Princess Erika
Michel Fugain
1994
Midnight Oil
No One Is Innocent
Johnny Clegg and Savuka
1995
Jacques Higelin
1996
Maxime Le Forestier
Jimmy Cliff
1997
Robert Charlebois
Cesária Évora
1998
Sinsemilla
Cheb Mami
Raggasonic
2000
Eddy Mitchell
2001
Manu Chao
Ska-P
2004
Youssou N'Dour
The Rasmus
Dub Incorporation
2005
Asian Dub Foundation
Bernard Lavilliers
The Offspring
2007
The Stooges
Razorlight
Ayọ
2008
Roger Hodgson
Babyshambles
NERD
2009
Deep Purple
The Kooks
2010
Raggasonic
The Prodigy
Madness
Simple Minds
2011
Joan Baez
Avril Lavigne
2014
Richard Stallman
2015
Texas
Manu Chao
Shaka Ponk
2016
The Chemical Brothers
Michel Polnareff
Lauryn Hill
Alain Souchon
Laurent Voulzy
Joey Starr
Caribbean Dandee
Ludwig Von 88
2017
Iggy Pop
Renaud
Feder
Trust
Dub Inc
2018
Franz Ferdinand
Julien Clerc
Bernard Lavilliers
Bigflo & Oli
References
External links
Official site in French
lls se sont produits à la Fête de l’Humanité... (incomplete list of the participants)
Music festivals in France
Communist press festivals
French Communist Party