A land of music, rather than great musicians
The Côte d'Opale shines by the great variety of musical practices that can be practiced, like the 29 associations managed by the Délégation Musicale de la Côte d'Opale and its great diversity of music played by amateurs: wind bands, choirs, symphony orchestra, accordions, and its many music schools. All year round, JMACO (Jazz and Current Music Côte d'Opale) also works to promote and structure current music in the region. We can thus observe a real will to federate the actors of the musical scene of the Opal Coast while offering them places to bloom and develop their talent.
The Loon-Plage music school, the Boulonnais departmental conservatory, the Dunkirk conservatory of music and dramatic art, the Calais cultural center... there are many places that cultivate a taste for music in our region and train the artists of tomorrow.
Popular music is also particularly present on the Opal Coast and more generally in the Hauts-de-France. The numerous carnivals, including the renowned Dunkirk carnival, are the scene of fabulous brass bands and harmonies involving drums, fife, accordion... Traditional songs and dances are also performed with bagpipes, fiddle, spinet, piposa... with artists like Marieke, Jean-Jacques Revillon or the Rococco Rijsel Trio. Not a big party is done without a musical tune, whether traditional (like the sea songs of the sea festival in Boulogne-sur-Mer) or more modern. It doesn't matter, as long as the atmosphere is there!
Many musical events throughout the year
Faced with this effervescence, it is finally not surprising to note the important number of music festivals and their variety on the coast. From the return of the warm weather until the end of the year, there is not a month without a music festival.
At the end of May and beginning of June, the Musica Nigella festival opens the festivities by celebrating classical music and welcomes several thousand visitors in sometimes atypical places. At the end of June, the Mid-Summer Festival celebrates Franco-British links in the Hardelot theater with baroque music, plays, dance and opera.
In July, the highly anticipated Côte d'Opale Festival is the event of the summer! It celebrates the French song and its great names with a dozen concerts from Boulogne-sur-Mer to Hardelot (in 2021, Vianney, Grand Corps Malade, Benjamin Biolay, Camelia Jordana...). The same month, the Hardelot festival offers a more "classical" atmosphere... since it celebrates classical music and jazz music. The concerts are of high quality, with interpretations of pieces by great composers given by confirmed artists.
In September, the Poulpaphone celebrates the beginning of the school year! The poulpa... what, you may ask? Behind this atypical name which already gives the tone, a festival of current and electric music in the Boulonnais. From rock to electro through pop or hip-hop, creativity is celebrated and highlights artists from all horizons.
In November, finally, you can opt for jazz with Tendances Jazz and its concerts, meetings and master classes or more current music with Intramurock. And, in December, numerous brass bands will not fail to warm up the atmosphere during the traditional Christmas markets! It is impossible not to find the music festival of your dreams on our beautiful Opal Coast!
Art and history theatres
Theater also has a nice place on the Opal Coast with several emblematic theaters. Let's start with the Grand Théâtre de Calais. As early as the 15th century, there are references to plays being performed in the city, in front of the Notre-Dame church. The first theater in Calais was built in 1725 in the present Rue de la Mer and consisted of a simple square with benches, a stage and three painted canvases. In 1772, Pierre Quilliacq dit Dessin offered the city to build a theatre at the bottom of his garden: this became the municipal theater or theater of the rue Leveux. Despite a considerable number of artists and plays, it was not profitable, partly due to the poor quality of the infrastructure.
In 1885, the idea of a municipal theater came back to the forefront and the project was entrusted to the architect Malgras-Delmas. The first stone was laid on July 9, 1903, and the inauguration was celebrated on October1, 1905. During the First World War, the plays will continue but the building is requisitioned by the Germans during the Second World War. However, the theater survived, and today it is a very popular place, containing 1,390 seats. It is also the third theater in France to have an iron stage machinery in its entirety.
More atypical, the wooden theater of Hardelot is the first Elizabethan theater in France, and it received the award for best wooden construction in the world in 2017. Inaugurated in 2016, it is an architectural marvel that allows Hardelot to stand out and pays tribute to Franco-British ties. Wood is omnipresent, from spruce to larch to waxed raw oak. Very popular, it also regularly hosts local concerts and festivals.
On the Boulogne-sur-Mer side, we find a more modest theater, the Monsigny theater, opened in 1860 when the development of the seaside resort obliged it to equip itself with more consequent infrastructures. Designed by the architect Albert Debayser, who designed other buildings in the city, its facade was inspired by Renaissance architecture and the interior was inspired by the codes of the Italian theater. However, the facade was largely damaged during the bombings of the Second World War, unlike the interior, which was more spared.
