The air was sticky and hot in Paris when I arrived last week on the first official night of summer. It was June 21, La Fête de la Musique. The celebration of music kicks off on the evening of the longest night of the year and transforms the city into one giant festival until the following morning.

Revellers fill every inch of public space in the French capital (and across the country) to mark the occasion. Streets, squares, parks, cafes, balconies and alleyways are reinvented as open-air stages where amateur and professional musicians alike perform for free. There is music from every genre imaginable, and the atmosphere is electric. From the Eiffel Tower to Sacre Coeur, an APC boutique to the Olympia, bodies young and old danced and moved to every type of tune flowing through the streets.

There is something magical about the inclusivity of the event and it is quite honestly the most incredible music festival I have ever encountered. And it’s accessible. Across Paris and the wider Île-de-France region, a special transport ticket was available for just €4.20 (around £3.50) that gave commuters unlimited access to trains, buses, trams and the Metro. Select Metro and RER (express suburban trains) were open all night to help revellers get between concerts and home safely. Oh, and did I mention every gig is free? The night-long celebration of music put Glasgow to shame.

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The Glasgow Summer Sessions kicked off last week but if concertgoers were planning to take the Subway to Ibrox and walk to Bellahouston Park, well, tough luck. Sting’s show on Wednesday coincided with the first of three days of strike action from the city’s Subway workers.

In a dispute over staffing levels, they planned walk-outs to clash with three of DF Concert’s major summer shows during the week: Sting,........

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