Wazemmes is Lille's most characterful neighbourhood and the city's least-gentrified — a dense, multicultural quarter about a kilometre southwest of the city centre, anchored by the Place de la Nouvelle Aventure and its enormous Sunday market. The neighbourhood has been working-class since the 19th century, when textile workers filled its terraced streets; today it has a large North African and West African population alongside long-established Lillois families and a growing number of students and artists drawn by cheap rents and the neighbourhood's unaffected vitality.
The Sunday market is the main draw for visitors: it fills the square and surrounding streets from early morning until afternoon, with stalls selling North African spices, West African textiles, Vietnamese herbs, French vegetables, cheap clothing, vinyl records, and secondhand tools in approximately equal measure. It is one of the best markets in France for the sheer density and diversity of what's on offer. The neighbourhood has good West African and Maghrebi restaurants and several notable concert venues for live music.