With the arrival of March, it is once again time for the chanson music festival Mars en Folie to return to China. This year the French language music festival is holding 29 concerts in 14 cities across China from March 7-22, with the Beijing stop of the tour scheduled for this Sunday at the Yugong Yishan live house.

Co-presented by the Alliance Francaise Network and the embassies of Canada, France, Switzerland and Belgium, the concerts feature four bands from the four countries that seek to introduce the wide variety of French music styles to audiences in China.

Webster (born Aly Ndiaye) is a hip-hop artist and an anti-racism activist from Quebec, Canada. Studying history at university, he told the Global Times he was especially interested in Chinese history and had read Romance of the Three Kingdoms before his trip. He also expressed that he hopes to find inspiration on the tour and add some Chinese elements to his rap performance.

Swiss band Adieu Gary Cooper enjoys playing country-blues styled music and giving mind-blowing west-coast garage rock inspired performances. Audiences attending the concert will have the opportunity to see a unique folk guitar vs electric guitar performance as the lead vocalist stamps his feet to keep the beat.

Swing pop band GINKGOA is set to present a special mix of old New York swing with French lyrics. Winning first prize at the French music festival Les Francofolies, fashion house Rochas later took their song "De New York a Paris" as their anthem. Together New Yorker Nicolle Rochelle and Parisian Antoine Chatenet form a duet that seeks to present French songs with an American vibe, and American songs with a French flavor. Along with their oboe playing partner, the band is set to perform sultry music that makes audiences wanted to swing their bodies.

With his towering figure and crooning sexy voice, Belgium singer Olivier Juprelle is sure to attract quite a crowd of screaming female fans. Along with guitarist Jerome Mardagaat, the two are a tour de force that evokes the music of Johnny Cash and Leonard Cohen.  

According to Jean-Luc Tissier, the director of Alliance Francaise Beijing, the musicians will also take time out to meet with Chinese students taking French classes in the spirit of furthering communication between speakers of the two languages.