Festival International de Guitare en Béarn

ℹ️ Festival discontinued. The organizing association Les Musicales de Lahontan entered into dissolution during its general assembly on November 22, 2024, due to a lack of candidates to take over its leadership. The 7th edition, from July 4 to 7, 2024, is the last publicly documented edition: no 2025 or 2026 edition has been confirmed. This record is kept for archival purposes.

Classical Guitar at the Heart of Béarn

Born in 2017 from the encounter between Jean Masmontet, a music enthusiast newly settled in Béarn, and Pierre Bibault, a conservatory guitar professor, the International Guitar Festival in Béarn quickly found its place in the region's musical landscape. The association Les Musicales de Lahontan, created in 2016, carried this ambitious project: to bring classical music to a territory where it was not sufficiently present and to create opportunities for encounters between the inhabitants of Béarn and musicians from around the world.

An Itinerant Festival

One of the festival's original features was its itinerant nature. Concerts were held in several communes of Béarn des Gaves:

• Lahontan: birthplace of the festival, this village hosted concerts in its church and heritage spaces
• Sauveterre-de-Béarn: a medieval town offering a remarkable architectural setting for recitals
• Orthez: former capital of Béarn with its historic monuments
• Salies-de-Béarn: a spa town with picturesque charm

Concerts and Masterclasses

The festival programmed classical guitar recitals given by renowned international soloists and duos. Masterclasses allowed guitar students to benefit from the teaching of great masters of the instrument. An international guitar competition highlighted young talents.

The Duo Résonances

The Duo Résonances, composed of Frédérique Luzy and Pierre Bibault, the festival's artistic director, gave the first classical guitar concert in Lahontan, laying the cornerstone of this musical adventure. Their commitment had forged lasting links between the world of classical guitar and the Béarn region.

The End of the Adventure

After seven successful editions (the 7th having been held from July 4 to 7, 2024), the association Les Musicales de Lahontan entered into dissolution during the general assembly on November 22, 2024, as no candidate came forward to take over the leadership. The festival demonstrated the relevance of its cultural project in Béarn des Gaves. If new energies were to revive the event, this record would be updated.