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STORY: About 2,500 spectators were expected to come each night to watch a selection of documentaries and fiction films.

Journalism student Tristan Parsino told Reuters he thought the festival was a good idea, because it makes the site relevant to Parisians again. "It remains incredible to be here. So having the time to sit and spend an evening here, I really find it exceptional. The setting is really magnificent," he said.

The festival opened with the projection of 'Fire of Love,' a documentary by filmmaker Sandra Dosa about French volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft.

The courtyard in which the festival takes place has been fitted with a 24-by-11 metre (79-by-36 feet) screen, deckchairs, food trucks and a DJ booth for live music performances.

The museum's communications manager, Adel Ziane, said the Cour Carree was "the heart of the Louvre" and that the festival was in keeping with "the museum's DNA to be open to all arts."

The Louvre museum was originally a royal palace, built over some 800 years and was the residence of French kings until they ceased living there in the mid-1700s.