The 23rd edition of the Inrocks Black XS music festival will take place in Paris, Lille, Nantes and Toulouse from November 3 to 9, 2010.

As usual, the festival’s line-up has focused on young talented artists and famous bands. The festival 2010 edition will present: Scissor Sisters, The Drums – who got famous this year with their single ‘Let’ s go surfin’-, LCD Sound System – this is the band’s last gig in France before they stop ! -, The Coral, Local Natives from California – stars of many festivals in England last summer -, La Patère Rose, previous member of Libertines Carl Barât, Anna Calvi, Monarchy and many others. This 23rd edition will also welcome special guest French artist Katerine, the man that nobody will prevent from eating bananas !

Useful Information:

Paris, Lille, Nantes and Toulouse line-up

Prices and concert halls

More information: Inrocks Black XS Music Festival – http://blogs.lesinrocks.com/festival-les-inrocks/

Source : Press release Les Inrocks Black XS

The Braderie de Lille is Europe’s largest flea market and certainly one of the most well-known events in France and abroad.

Every year, the first week-end of September, between one and two million visitors stroll up and down the streets of the city, entertained by music and the numerous performances . With a half-marathon on in the morning, Lille flea market officially starts on Saturday 4th September at 2 p.m. and ends the day after on Sunday 5th September at 11 p.m.

The city becomes a huge pedestrian area where thousands of retailers and secondhand goods dealers perpetuate both the sales tradition and celebration !

Enjoying a dish of “moules-frites” (mussels served with chips) has become a deeply-rooted tradition and is the subject of a contest between the city’s restaurants to see who can build the highest mountain of empty mussel shells. A must-see attraction !

More information: Lille Tourist Office - http://lilletourism.com

The European Film Festival of Lille, a major cultural in northern France, is back for its 26th edition. It will be held from February 26 to March 5, 2010 in Lille, Roubaix and Tourcoing.

It has been 26 years since the Festival keeps on highlighting cinema, especially short films, through a large programme, prestigious jurys and a priviledged access to this kind of film, which still lacks in popularity.

This year, Aissa Maiga is to be the guest of honour of the festival. She started in French filmaker Cédric Klapish’s famous film Les Poupées Russes. Then, thanks to her role in Bamako, a film of Abderrahmane Sissako, she was one of the Most Promising Young Actress nominees for the César French Film Awards, in the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.

The Festival Highlights:

• The opening night will take place in UGC Ciné-Cité cinema, on Friday 26th February at 8 pm with special guest  Aissa Maiga. To honour the Spanish presidency of the EU Council, the theme of the evening will be focused on new Spanish talents. Four short films will be presented, including «Miente» by Isabel de Ocampo, who won the Goya Spanish Film Award in 2009 for the best short film. Afterwards, there will be a cocktail with tapas and other Spanish appetizers.
• The Short Film Night will take place in the Univers cinema, on Saturday 27th February. The programme : 5 screenings of 1h30, including this year’s European seclection short films.
• The closing night will also take place in UGC Ciné-Cité cinema, on Friday 5th March, at 8 pm. The winning short films will be shown and there will be a cocktail afterwards.

The Theme Nights:

Throughout the festival, themed screenings focused on “l’Europe dans tous ses Etats” will be offered. During a screening, a short film is followed by a feature film.

The theme nights programme :

• The History Boys by Nicholas Hytner -  Sunday 28th  February – Fresnoy cinema
• Sweet Sixteen by Ken Loach – Monday 1 st March – UGC cinema
• No man’s land by Danis Tanovic – Tuesday 2nd March – UGC cinema
• A casa nostra by Francesca Comenini – Wednesday 3rd March – UGC cinema
• De l’autre côté by Fatih Akin – Thursday 4th March – UGC cinema

Useful Information:

• The European Film Festival: From February 26 to March 5, 2010
• The 1st Short Film Night: on February 27 in Univers cinema, Lille’s art house
• On February 27 and 28 in Fresnoy cinema, Tourcoing’s art house
• From Marh 1 to 5 in Lille’s UGC cinema
• On March 3 in Roubaix’s  Duplex cinema

Prices:

For all screenings:

• Full price: €5
• Student and elderly peolple price: €4
• UGC cinema unlimited card holders: €2

Weekly Pass : all films, except for the closing night and the Short Film Night

• Full price: €20
• Student and elderly peolple price: €15

Opening and Closing Nights :

• Full price: €8
• Student and elderly peolple price: €7

More information: Européen Film Festival – www.filmcourt-lille.com

Until February 22, 2010, The Fine Arts Museum of Lille presents the E.Motion Graphique exhibition, which makes the link between classical drawing and international contemporary graphic art.

For this occasion, nearly 160 drawings taken from the renowned collection of the Fine Arts Museum of  Lille will be shown, some of which have never been presented before to the public.

This exhibition focuses on genres and subjects found in painting such as portraits, decors, academic nudes and draperies in order to reveal the aesthetic and technical links between classical drawings and animated films.

The originality of drawings from the sixteenth to the twentieth century (such as Raphael, Watteau, David, Delacroix, Fantin-Latour, Matisse, but also anonymous artists …) will be highlighted by contemporary graphic design (such as video-clips illustrating the music of Radiohead, Antony, David Bowie, Björk…, films of graphic designers’ associations H5 Blackheart Gang, Blip Boutique, Squint Opera…) and will show what the art of the twentieth and twenty-first century owes to the act of drawing itself.

More information:

Lille Fine Arts Museum: www.pba-lille.fr

Lille Tourist Office: www.lilletourism.com