Headed for Paris? Pack a bathing suit—and dancing shoes—for the 12th annual edition of Paris Plages, the free city beach holiday during which 5,000 tons of sand, ransported by barge from Normandy, are deposited on three quais along the Seine to create beaches open from 9 a.m. to midnight daily. The festival runs July 20 through August 15 and includes free concerts, zip lines, electric go-carts, tango lessons, sports for kids, and more.
During opening weekend, 32 live acts—Mesparrow, Granville, Isaac Delusion, Olivia Ruiz, Jacques Higelin, Oxmo Puccino, Alex Beaupain among them—will play free concerts on the esplanade of the Hotel de Ville (City Hall). Kids will have the most fun on the Quai de la Loire on the Bassin de la Villette, in the 19th arrondissement, where daily activities include tot soccer, kayak lessons, a merry go round, tai chi lessons, and a go-cart circuit. For night owls, free film screenings, opera performances, and concerts will transmitted every Friday and Saturday starting July 26 to a giant screen set up on the esplanade of the Hotel de Ville. If you don’t have a beach towel, the city provides deck chairs, umbrellas, even a free lending library.
Meanwhile, through September 21, every day is a beach party at La Plage Glazart at 7/15 avenue Porte de la Villette, where organizers of this commercial series of outdoor summer concerts have placed 50 tons of sand near the confluence of the Canal d'Ourcq and the Canal St. Denis. There are weekday performances of indie rock, techno, funk and dub step; Saturday afternoon clubbing with the latest trends in techno, house, and bass music, and Sunday family events, including brunch stands and a flea market.
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Photo: © Christophe LEHENAFF/ /Photononstop/Corbis