Film music is to be honoured at this year's Fête de La Musique in France. And this  timely initiative from the French Culture Minister Christine Albanel is designed to remind us that 2008 is the centenary year of film soundtracks, the very first of the genre having been penned by the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns for the 1908 film L'Assassinat du duc de Guise. A number of classical orchestras will be taking to stages across France to pay tribute to film music of all kinds. But one of the most original performances is likely to come from the French electro collective Kinosound. The electro outfit will be performing in Lille, putting their own innovative spin on the musical score from "Sumurun (One Arabian Night)" and inviting audiences to rediscover images from this little-known 1920 film by the German-born Hollywood director Ernst Lubitsch.

Other events organised across France appear to have drawn inspiration from the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue with a range of solo artists and groups performing in regional languages threatened with extinction. In Arcachon, in the south-west of France, groups including the Haïdouti Orkestar, La Caravane Passe and Mango Gadzi will be reviving traditional Gypsy music. Meanwhile, at other venues across the country, Kalffa (playing in St Julien du Sault), Lo Cor de la Plana (Nissan-Lez-Enserune) and Orange Street (Issoudun) will be paying their respects to Breton, Occitan and Jamaican culture. Indeed, musical diversity appears to be an integral part of this year's festivities with groups celebrating regional culture in great demand to play across the world.

The French capital is renowned as a joyous melting-pot of music and culture and this year's Fête de la Musique is as diverse as ever with events ranging from classical  (the Théâtre du Châtelet hosting concerts designed around the theme of "explaining classical music to children") to world sounds (the Institut du monde Arabe showcasing another of its famous "Dialogue des cultures" between Moroccan groove, "bled-Rai" and contemporary Kabylian fusion). Meanwhile, that globe-trotting musical activist Manu Chao will be staging a massive free concert in the Paris suburb of Bondy. And, not to be outdone, RFI will be organising "Musiques du Monde dans un jardin", showcasing happening world sounds in the gardens of the Hôtel Montesquiou with appearances from Bido Groove Moto (from the Democratic Republic of Congo), Jean Racine (Senegal), Moun Karayib (Guadeloupe), Davy Sicard (Réunion) and the Haitian star Bélo (a former winner of RFI's "Découvertes Award").

No less than 400 towns and cities around the globe will be celebrating the Fête de la Musique this year - and over 100 French artists have been invited to perform abroad on this occasion! Over in the U.S., key events will be taking place in Miami (which staged its first Fête de la Musique six years ago), New York (which joined in the fun last year) and San Francisco (where French star Tété will be playing this year). But all eyes will be turned on Pasadena which is staging its first Fête de la Musique this year. The city, about ten miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles, will be pumping up the volume with DJ Antipop from Martinique and French pop-rock girl band Plastiscines.

After Make Music New York 2007 went down in history as the biggest music event New York had ever staged, the Big Apple is preparing to pull out all the stops to mark the second edition of the Fête de la Musique. Highlights are set to include internationally famous outfits such as The Jazz (playing at the Lincoln Center) but also amateur rock bands being given the chance to perform at legendary New York venues such as the Guggenheim Museum and Carnegie Hall. A number of French artists will be heading out to New York to join in the fun, including the experimental pop diva Emilie Simon and Béatrice Ardisson, the French hipster famous for her cutting-edge cover compilations.

While turntable maestros Birdy Nam Nam cook up their happening DJ mix in the Brazilian capital, Brasilia, things will also be hotting up in Spain's ultimate party city, Barcelona. Here, the French Cultural Institute has joined forces with the local Spanish Sonar festival to put on a mega line-up that includes appearances from French stars Miss Kittin, Chloé and Camille. Over in Berlin, Mini Mousetache, Les Copains d'Abord and Ava Petit René will be flying the flag for French sounds while 'nouvelle chanson' heroine Pauline Croze heads across the Channel to play in London. In Brussels, music fans will be treated to a special "soirée" of French-Belgian talents including Aaron, Les BB Brunes and Hollywood Porn Star.

Further abroad, Kandid will be taking their inimitable mix of pop, folk and French chanson to Shanghai where they will share the stage with new Swiss chanson talent Zedrus. Meanwhile, up the road in Tokyo, Fred shares his French take on folk rock with Japanese fans. Other groups have decided to venture even further off the beaten track, in both the musical and the geographical sense of the term, the French Gypsy jazz group Mystère Trio playing in Erbil (Kurdistan), for instance. Meanwhile, over in Djibouti, music fans will be treated to a mega-reggae concert masterminded by The Haymanot Band and featuring appearances by the likes of Teddy Dan, Ras Niemjah, Theodoros and Haile Roots. Other international highlights include Elzef (playing in Ramallah), Les Martine City Queen (Essen, Germany) and Kebous (in Limassol, Cyprus). This year, more than ever, La Fête de la Musique looks set to live up to its founding motto of "tout et partout", taking a little of everything everywhere!

Pauline Bordone