The Fourvière Nights

2024 edition

​With more than 100 music, drama, dance, circus and opera shows, Les Nuits de Fourvière 2024 offers a chance to experience an amazing diversity of artistic expression. In addition to the headline acts, you will find niche artists to be discovered. International stars will share the stage with local talent from the surrounding region. New this year: a programme for children and families; the Samedi des Nuits, promising a night of fun and discoveries; travelling artistic adventures, and more... They are all opportunities to come together and share your energy with fellow festival-goers.

Vincent Anglade & Emmanuelle Durand
Co-directeurs des Nuits de Fourvière

Discounted admission with the Lyon City Card

In partnership with Les Nuits de Fourvière, the Lyon City Card gives you discounted tickets for a dozen shows. Make the most of the offer to (re)discover the city before making your way to the site of the ancient theatres to support the artists on stage.

Les Petites Nuits

To allow kids to enjoy Les Nuits de Fourvière too, four shows at the crossroads of dance, music, circus and drama have been specially created for a younger audience, aged 6 up.

• La Poétique de l'instable (Poetics of Instability) on 9 June 
• OctOpus on 18 June 
• Loin de Garbo (a story of swing and exile) on 9 July 
• Voyage Cosmopop (a musical journey at the Planetarium) on 17 July

And that’s not all! There will be a whole host of activities on offer to discover more about the life of an artist, circus professions and more... Find out all the details on les Nuits de Fourvière website.

Accessible shows

Because Les Nuits de Fourvière aims to be a cultural gathering for all, the festival programme also includes accessible activities and shows. Various services will be available to enable all festival-goers to enjoy the event, including a relaxation session for people with mental disabilities, audio-descriptions and whisperers to describe visual performances, a hearing loop and tactile indicators.
If you have a disability, buy your tickets at least 15 days in advance if possible, providing information about your disability. To book tours and workshops, or for further information, please contact Les Nuits de Fourvière at [email protected] or phone the ticket office on +33(0)4 72 32 00 00

Previous editions

Always striving to be eclectic, Lyon’s festival Les Nuits de Fourvière has welcomed a variety of leading artists over the years, such as Philippe Decouflé, Isabelle Adjani, Michel Polnareff, Kassav', The Black Keys and Christine and the Queens... While the festival has always been centred on the history-filled site of the ancient theatres, there has been a real desire to bring artists and spectators down from the hill of Fourvière. With this in mind, the “off-site” programme has invited audiences to various venues. 

The history of Nuits de Fourvière

On 29 June 1946 at 5 p.m., French President Edouard Herriot, Mayor of Lyon, gave a historic conference at the Grand Roman Theatre to open the event. The first show put on was a play from the ancient repertoire picked to pay tribute to the venue: Aeschylus’s “The Persians”. Though Nîmes and Orange had had their festivals for some time, Lyon finally took the plunge, putting on major outdoor cultural events on a historic site.

But it wasn’t yet known as a festival. Lyon residents attended the “Soirées de Fourvière”, then the Festival de Lyon-Charbonnières for the first time in June 1949. 
Over eleven seasons, endless concerts and recitals, baroque and romantic operas, ancient and classical tragedies, ballets and comedies were organised in the two Roman theatres, churches, museum courtyards, on the cathedral square, and in the salons and gardens of Lyon-Charbonnières casino... (source Fourvière une histoire)

In 1960, it became the “Festival de Lyon” but its success varied from year to year and the programme was patchy. The festival was still looking for an identity.
Then ultimately came the ‘90s and the 49th year of the festival from 5 to 28 July 1994. This was the first “Nuit de Fourvière” as we know it. The programme featured 4 nights of blues, a Bob Dylanrecital, the group IAM, Patricia Kaas, etc. Nuit de Fourvière festival is more than ever aiming to be eclectic and international.

Festival highlights

Though the festival is deeply attached to the ancient Fourvière site, it aims to expand. Whether geographically by hosting festival-goers on other sites, culturally by offering visitors the opportunity to get to know artists from all over the world, or by adding further disciplines, the festival opens minds and encourages exploration.

Nuits de Fourvière “off” shows are an institution. Looking to expand the programme off the ancient site to make it ever more accessible, the festival has partnerships with 10 cultural venues: Théâtre des Célestins, Théâtre de la Croix-Rousse, Théâtre de la Renaissance, Comédie-Odéon, ENSATT, the Lyon Opera, Musée des Confluences, Lycée Saint-Just, Domaine de Lacroix-Laval, and Parc de Parilly. 19 Nuits de Fourvière “off” shows have been organised as part of the 2023 event.