Laon bandstand

The bandstand was inaugurated with great fanfare on 16 June 1877 and remains one of the most notable examples of urban creation in Laon at the start of the Third Republic, allowing the general public to listen to all kinds of musical repertoires, from military music to operetta via ‘grande musique’.

If we stick to the definition of a bandstand, i.e. ‘a pavilion open on all sides, set up in a garden or on a public promenade’, then this is exactly what we have here, as the one in Laon is located just a few metres from the Porte d'Ardon, on the Promenade de la Couloire at the foot of the southern ramparts...

And the location was not chosen at random, offering superb views over the Ardon plain and the hills of the Laonnois region, as well as the Saint-Vincent reservoir...