Nuits sonores

The Arty Farty organisation started Nuits sonores in Lyon in 2003, and it has been one of the reasons French electronic music has a serious public life. It takes over a city rather than a field, using public spaces, old industrial sites, small venues and the occasional historic building, across five days. The Days have settled at Les Grandes Locos, a giant former railway works in La Mulatière, and the club programme spreads across town, with Arty Farty's own Le Sucre among the rooms. The festival's closing statement for 2026, the 23rd edition, gave about 98,000 attendees, with every site sold out. A companion Lab covers talks and ideas. Past line-ups include Kraftwerk, Four Tet, Autechre, Jeff Mills, Robert Hood and Cassius. It is the kind of booking that assumes you will stay curious. House sits comfortably inside the programme without running it. The 2027 edition, the 24th, is announced for 5 to 9 May. Bring comfortable shoes, because the sites are not close to each other.