Paris organizes many festivals and events and many of them are free.

Here we are listing a few:

Paris Music Festival (Fête de la Musique) celebrates the summer solstice (21st June).  New and established musicians takes over the streets and cafes of Paris during this one day event held in June.

Open-Air Paris Cinema at La Villette. Each summer,  Parc de la Villette invites the movie-lovers with a giant outdoor screen and entirely free screenings of both classics and recent movies.

Paris Gay Pride (Marche des Fiértés) in June, is a colorful event celebrating diversity, and is a great opportunity to see Paris culture in all of its lights.

Bastille Day celebrates the dawn of the 1789 French Revolution and the first stirrings of a Republic, with fireworks displays, lively parades and street festivals. Every July 14th, Paris comes to life with free events in honor of democracy à la française.

In July, the cycling race, le Tour de France both starts and ends in Paris. Its route varies annually, however it always finishes on the last Sunday of July under the Arc de Triomphe.

Paris Plage (Paris Beach) Since 2002, the city of Paris transform the banks of the Seine river into a beach boardwalk every summer.

European Heritage Days (Journées du Patrimoine) held in mid-September, is a yearly event in which hundreds of historical buildings, monuments and seats, customarily closed or only partially open to the public, open their doors to visitors around Paris. You can visit the Presidential Palace (Palais de l'Elysée) or the centuries-old Sorbonne University.