The French! They’re back! Kicking things off this week with some modern dance at the Thailand Cultural Center, La Fête begins an unusually long journey. This year, the French cultural festival ends Sep 30, mostly because the closing event, an amazing collection of Dvarati-period Buddha images (Jul 31-Sep 30), was so popular in Paris, the Musee Guimet decided to hold on to these ancient treasures a bit longer. Still, most of the action is concentrated in June. We’re very excited about Georges Rousse, an artist who transforms spaces about to be destroyed. His pictures will be shown at the River’s sales office and he’ll perform an on-site artwork somewhere in Bangkok (Jun 10-Jul 5). Hip-hop is becoming central to La Fête. This year’s hip-hop battle (at Patravadi, Jun 7) builds on last year’s surprise hit: it will be longer and better, the organizers promise (Jun 7). Modern circus, on the other hand, seems to be losing steam. Only the clowns BP at Aksra will represent it (Jun 16-17). A first for La Fête, French puppetry, will be shown at the Alliance Francaise by Aie Aie Aie (Jun 11-12) and you can count on the big free outdoor concert at CentralWorld (Jun 20). Other regulars include the film festival (Jun 19-Jul 1) and French food events, next Thu at Four Seasons and Jun 23-27 for a dinner in the dark at Pullman Hotel’s Déjà Vu. There are some 23 events in all. Week after week, BK will list them all in BK+ and www.bkmagazine.com. You can also visit www.lafete-bangkok.com and book tickets on www.thaiticketmajor.com.