Winter music festivals in the French Alps

I expected that in the small town of Les Gets, where I spent last winter, there would be at least one pub with live music. However, I did not think that larger-scale music festivals are organized in the ski villages. It turned out that, yes, and what’s more their formula was a novelty and surprise for me, but let me explain.

ROCK DE PISTES

One of the major music festivals that covers the Alps in France and Switzerland. Concerts take place at the Porte du Soleil ski resort. Porte du Soleil is a huge ski area connected by a dense network of lifts. Some concerts take place on the ski slopes and only people with a valid ski pass can enter. Thanks to this we can literally ski down from the tops to the concert! The rest of the events take place in bars by the slopes or in the hearts of the cities on the old town. The festival’s line up is stripped down, fewer artists play on it, except that each of them performs several times at different times and in different locations. This way, you have the chance to do not miss any show. The odds to listen to live music “straight from the ski lift” is something to experience only in the mountains and only in the winter. Until now, I haven’t had a chance to attend a gig at this form. Before planning your winter holidays then, it’s a good idea to check the calendar of events in a given town, so your winter vacations can become something more than just skiing around.

Rock de pistes is organized every year in March and concerts take place in about eleven cities. Next year, the festival will be celebrating its 10th anniversary.

LOUNGE MUSIC FESTIVAL

A fantastic festival that is to be overlooked easily! I remember that I saw the poster nowhere else but at the bakery’s window and only a day before it started. Even in the tourist information centre (where I have been often) there was none well visible information. There is not much more information on the internet either except for the line-up. In the end, the Lounge Music Festival exists and in addition takes place twice a year in winter and summer. It lasts a few days and has a similar formula to other winter festivals – one artist plays several times in different locations, including ski slopes. Unlike Rock de Pistes, where club music, pop and rock are the main types, the Lounge Music Festival has a much wider range of performers, whose music oscillates from hip-hop, rock, funk, folk, to blues and jazz. Being a fun of tiny concerts, I greatly appreciated this festival and discovered some superb bands and artists that I had never heard of before.

Voilà a short list of winter festivals I have shared in. Below you can find a longer list of other music events, ranging from electro festivals to classical music. Some of them are originally summer festivals, which has recently found their winter locations, e.g. Tomorrowland in L’Alpe d’Huez moved from Belgium or Jazz à Val Thorens from Vienna. Now they can be celebrated twice a year in completely different surroundings and temperature, of course. 😉

Jazz-Blues Festivals

JAZZ A VAL THORENS

Jazz music festival in Val Thorens and the equivalent of the summer edition of the Jazz à Vienne festival. This year, the second winter edition of the festival took place at the highest ski slope in Europe. Jazz concert at the altitude of 2300m? Wouldn’t you go… ?

SANCY SNOW JAZZ IN BESSE-SUPER-BESSE

Free jazz festival, with concerts taking place all around the Sancy massif.

Classical Music Festivals

CLASSICAVAL IN VAL D’ISERE

Electro Music Festivals

TOMORROWLAND IN L’ALPE D’HUEZ

This year, Belgian Tomorrowland was held in the Alps for the first time. A treat especially for the greatest fans of this huge electro music celebration or those who would prefer to celebrate it in the winter in the scenery of monumental mountains, and not in the summer in Belgium. Or maybe is just an extra chance for those who want to experience Tomorrowland more than once a year. During the festival only people with festival tickets can enter the town and, of course, residents also. Tomorrowland is also an unforgettable experience for … the wallet. By buying the option for 7 days with accommodation and a flight from Warsaw you will pay approx. 10 thousand zł. This is more than my monthly salary in Norway. However, we are able to pay a lot to live intense experiences!