Les Nuits de Fourviere

The Nuits de Fourvière is an annual summer festival in Lyon that has been held at the ancient Roman theater of Fourvière since 1946. Since 1952, the event has also taken place at the Odéon de Lyon in the 5th arrondissement, near the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière. The program offers a diverse mix of theater, circus, music, dance, and film. Originally organized by the casino in Charbonnières-les-Bains, the festival came under the management of the Rhône department in the early 1990s, before Grand Lyon took over responsibility on January 1, 2005. One special tradition of the festival is that, at the end of a performance, audience members throw their seat cushions toward the stage to show their thanks and appreciation.