When summer reaches its height, the arts don’t retreat indoors. They pour into the open air. July is festival season, a moment when towns and cities around the world turn plazas, palaces, and parks into stages, and creativity becomes something you can walk right into. For anyone who loves art, it’s one of the most exciting times of the year.

A tradition centuries in the making

The idea of the summer arts festival, bringing performance and art to the public, outside the walls of the traditional theater or gallery, has deep roots. In France, the Festival d’Avignon, founded in 1947 by the actor and director Jean Vilar, remains one of the world’s great theater gatherings, transforming the medieval city and its Palais des Papes into a stage each July. Its famous “IN” (official) and “OFF” (independent) programs together fill Avignon with hundreds of productions, proving that great art can be both curated and gloriously open to all.

Art for everyone, outdoors

What makes the summer festival season special is its accessibility. Around the world, July brings open-air concerts, street-theater and buskers’ festivals, sculpture trails, film-in-the-park screenings, craft and folk-art fairs, and community celebrations that put creativity in the middle of everyday life. You don’t need a ticket or a hushed gallery to take part; you simply step outside and encounter it. This is art in its most democratic form.

Why it matters

Festivals do more than entertain. They give emerging artists a stage, bring communities together across differences, and sustain traditions in music, dance, and craft that live in performance rather than in frames on a wall. They also remind us that art is meant to be shared. A summer festival turns an audience into a community, if only for an afternoon.

Finding your festival

The world’s famous festivals are worth the pilgrimage, but the spirit of the season is just as alive close to home. This July, seek out the arts festival, outdoor concert, or craft fair happening in your own town, and bring someone with you. The best of summer is meant to be experienced together, out in the open, where creativity belongs.

Festivals with a long memory

Several of Europe’s best-known summer festivals have postwar roots. The Festival d’Avignon says it was founded in 1947 by Jean Vilar (its first edition was in September 1947), and today it runs each July at more than twenty mostly historic sites, alongside an independent “Off” with over a thousand companies. The Edinburgh International Festival says it was established in 1947 by Rudolf Bing as a global celebration of the performing arts. The Festival d’Aix-en-Provence was founded in 1948 by Gabriel Dussurget, and its first edition in July 1948 was a Mozart festival.

The Montreux Jazz Festival was founded in 1967 by Claude Nobs, Rene Langel and Geo Voumard, and its first edition lasted three days, with early performers including Charles Lloyd and Keith Jarrett.

Plan your own season

Check each festival’s official programme before booking, since dates and lineups change every year. For events closer to home, see Major Art Events of July 2026.

Sources

• Festival d’Avignon
• Festival d’Avignon, archives
• Edinburgh International Festival, About
• Montreux Jazz Festival, Timeline
• Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, History