Fête de la Musique - 21st June

The Fête de la Musique is now one of France's main cultural events and takes place on the day of the Summer Solstice, the longest day, the 21st June.

It was launched on June 21, 1982 and is a gathering of professional and amateur musicians and singers, playing rock, jazz, classical and traditional music. The musicians are asked to play for free, and all the concerts are free for the public.

The spirit of the Fête is to play in the open air such as in streets and parks or in public buildings. The Fête de la Musique has also encouraged some of the major musical institutions such as orchestras, operas and choirs to perform outside their usual locations.

It has now been exported to over 100 different countries all over the world, including the UK, where the Alliance Francaise co-ordinates many of the events.

Now for 2011, you can download for free an Android or iPhone app to find out what's going on in your area.
http://fetedelamusique.culture.fr/en/dans-la-poche/


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Accident at Disneyland Paris - 25th April 2011

There was an accident at Disneyland Paris on Monday 25th April 2011 with one man seriously injured and five others with minor injuries.

The accident took place on the Mine Train attraction. A piece of artificial resin rock fell off onto the train track, causing a train to derail and rise up and land on a carriage carrying 25 people. The injured man was airlifted to hospital and lets hope he recovers.

The attraction has been closed for the time being.

The question is,

• is this something that could have been avoided ? Should they not be inspecting the various parts of a ride to check that there is nothing that is working loose and needs repaired or replaced, especially those parts near moving things like trains.
• Or is this just an unfortunate accident that couldnt have been foreseen ?

I tend to think that this should have maybe been foreseen.
I have a friend who reports a terrifying ride with her young children on a ride at Disneyland Paris where she felt she was having to hold her 5 year old onto the ride. She said it wasnt even a ride that looked potentially terrifying and looked suitable for young children. I shall ask her what it was called and report back.  (I have since checked and she said it was a Nemo themed ride - no wonder she thought it would be OK for young children !)

All I can say is thank goodness I am usually too scared to go on most rides such as rollercoasters - mind you I can imagine that that mine train looks like the type of thing I might possibly have been persuaded to go on.

Update (6th June 2011) - there was recently an accident where a young girl fell out of a ride at Parc Walibi in the Rhone Alpes and it turns out that a teenager was injured when he fell out of this ride in 2003 - http://www.francesoir.fr/actualite/faits-divers/walibi-un-ado-deja-blesse-dans-meme-attraction-107847.html. The accident with the young girl is attributed to the fact that the safety barrier wasnt holding her in due to size different between her and her aunt who had taken her on the ride. Lets hope she is OK.


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