C'est dans la Vallée

A festival born from a meeting between a musician and a valley

The story of C'est dans la Vallée begins in 2001, when musician Rodolphe Burger, originally from Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, organized three concerts by his group Kat Onoma in the church of Saint-Pierre-sur-l'Hâte, in the heart of the Alsatian valley. This founding act — making music resonate in a heritage site — would become the DNA of a unique festival, rooted in a territory and open to the world.

A festival of creation, not programming

What distinguishes C'est dans la Vallée from other festivals is its philosophy of creation. Rather than simply programming touring artists, the festival invites musicians, visual artists, and filmmakers to create original works during residencies of several days in the valley. The Klein Leberau studio, Rodolphe Burger's rehearsal and creation space, serves as the artistic headquarters. The creation-concerts, cine-concerts, and unprecedented collaborations that result give the festival a unique and irreplaceable identity.

Dreyeckland: the Rhine dimension

The 16th edition of the festival, held from October 9 to 12, 2025, inaugurated a new Rhine and cross-border dimension by exploring the Dreyeckland territory — this cultural space shared between Alsace, Baden-Württemberg, and German-speaking Switzerland. On the program: the opening concert by Sonnenblume & Rodolphe Burger, the musical creation "Winterreise" — a tribute to the German language bringing together Patricia Kaas, Vicky Krieps, and Felix Kubin in a dialogue between Schubert and Kraftwerk — the evening "Radioaktive Nacht" with the performance of Kraftwerk's album Radio-Activity by Rodolphe Burger and Julien Perraudeau, and concerts by Reverend Beat-Man and POLE.

An artistic trail in the valley

Beyond the concerts, the festival offers the contemporary art trail "Dévaler", which scatters installations and works by artists in the heritage sites of the valley. Meetings, screenings, musical brunches, readings, and surprise performances complete a dense and generous program. Since its creation, C'est dans la Vallée has cultivated its uniqueness as an event that is both popular and demanding, deeply rooted in Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines while radiating far beyond the Alsatian borders.