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 2010, 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.
Around 400 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.)
In 2025, the Fête de l'Humanité attracted 610,000 participants, selling out for the first time, while it welcomed 570,000 the next year.
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 Mustafa Al-Kurd
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 Kim Wilde
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 (band) 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
Further reading
External links
Official site in French lls se sont produits à la Fête de l’Humanité... (incomplete list of the participants)