TheConsular festivalsare organized annually by the City of Lyon.
They take place on Place Bellecour, in the city center, in front of the equestrian statue of Louis XIV.
For around twenty years, they have allowed Lyon residents to explore foreign countries around a particular theme and to meet representatives of foreign communities who live in Lyon and the surrounding area.
This year, moments of sharing are created around crafts, the culture of each country and the culinary art.
We admired the know-how of this potter from Nabeul, a town located north of Hammamet, Tunisia.
These Koreans dressed in traditional costumes were a complete contrast to the group we saw dancing on stage shortly after. We were suddenly plunged into a supercharged show, with a K-pop background.
Every year, we like to wander between each stand dedicated to a country. We find it very pleasant to travel to the 5 continents, without the inconvenience of jet lag. We collect a lot of information to our society . And we are building links with foreign associations, of which there are many in Lyon.
Because we are seeing an increasingly significant development in the internationality of the capital of the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region.
Thus, 70 consulates exist in Lyon. In addition, the city of Lyon is twinned with 20 other cities around the world, including 7 in Europe. It belongs to various international networks such as Eurocities, Silky cities, etc. And it welcomes more than 20,000 international students each year in multiple university courses and professional schools.
Solidarity is an important word for Lyon. Since it provided solidarity and financial support in August 2020 to Lebanon, in November 2020 to Armenia and in March 2022 to Ukraine.