Hors Pistes Festival
Musical adventures in Annecy
About Hors Pistes
The Hors Pistes Festival is a contemporary and avant-garde music festival organized every February in Annecy by Le Brise Glace, a contemporary music venue. Since its creation in 2011, the festival unearths the best of national and international musical avant-garde by taking over a dozen atypical and heritage sites in Annecy — deconsecrated chapels, museums, media libraries, concert cafes, ephemeral structures by the lake. With around 3,500 spectators and thirty artists per edition, Hors Pistes has established itself as an unmissable event for musical discovery in Haute-Savoie, mixing indie rock, folk, electro, post-punk, chanson, and world music without pigeonholing genres.
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Avant-garde music goes off the beaten track
Created in 2011 by Le Brise Glace, Annecy's contemporary music venue, the Hors Pistes Festival lives up to its name: it breaks out of the concert hall walls to take over the city's most unexpected locations. Deconsecrated chapels, museums, media libraries, concert cafes, art galleries, former prisons, nature reserves, and even ephemeral structures set up on the shores of Lake Annecy — each edition transforms a dozen venues into concert stages where emerging artists and established names from the independent scene cross paths.
A unique winter festival
In the heart of February, while the nearby ski resorts are in full swing, Hors Pistes offers a week of musical adventures in the city center. The festival programs around twenty concerts spread over six days, more than half of which are free. The programming refuses to be confined to any genre: indie rock, folk, electro, post-punk, French chanson, world music, cold wave, psyché — each edition is an invitation to discovery and the unexpected.
Among the artists who have marked recent editions: Shannon Wright, Herman Dune, Souleance, Yan Wagner, Alma Rechtman, Francis of Delirium, Mauve, Raoul Vignal. The festival makes it a point of honor to program rising artists alongside more established names on the independent scene.
Iconic Annecy locations
The two flagship venues of the festival are the Chapelle des Forges in Cran-Gevrier, a former place of worship converted into a concert hall with remarkable acoustics, and L'Étoile Rouge, an ephemeral structure set up on Quai de la Tournette on the shores of Lake Annecy. The festival also takes over the Château d'Annecy, the Médiathèque Bonlieu, the Conservatoire, the Auditorium de Seynod, the cinema La Turbine, the Îlot-S (CAUE), and various concert cafes in the city center.
A traveling bus, the Hors Pistes bus (or Ticket To Jam), offers free mini-concerts during the day, creating spontaneous moments of musical discovery in public spaces.
Le Brise Glace, driving force of Annecy's music scene
The festival is driven by the association Musiques Amplifiées, which manages Le Brise Glace, a contemporary music venue labeled SMAC, located at 54 bis rue des Marquisats in Annecy. Since 2011, the Le Brise Glace team — including Myrtille Pueo, Louise-Marie Simon, and Fanny Guignard — has been designing and organizing the festival with the support of the City of Annecy, the Department of Haute-Savoie, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region, the Ministry of Culture, the CNM (Centre National de la Musique), and SACEM.
Hors Pistes — edition 2026
2026 edition of the Hors Pistes Festival in Annecy, from February 17 to 22. Nearly 20 concerts in 11 venues including L'Étoile Rouge and Chapelle des Forges. Artists: Herman Dune, Souleance, Yan Wagner, Alma Rechtman, Francis of Delirium.
2026 Edition: Annecy, February, Lots of Music
The Hors Pistes Festival took place from February 17 to 22, 2026 in Annecy with nearly 20 concerts spread across 11 emblematic venues in the city. The two flagship venues for this edition were the Chapelle des Forges in Cran-Gevrier and L'Étoile Rouge, an ephemeral structure set up on Quai de la Tournette by the lake.
The lineup mixed international artists and emerging projects: Herman Dune (indie folk), Souleance and Yan Wagner (electro), Alma Rechtman (folk chanson), Francis of Delirium (indie rock), Vera Daisies, Güner Künier, Nightbus, Gaia Banfi (dark pop with the Brise Glace choir at Château d'Annecy), Grímr, Photons, Yalla Miku, Shortstraw, and Dressed Like Boys.
The traveling bus Hors Pistes offered free mini-concerts during the day, and the festival concluded with a film-concert of *Sleepy Hollow* at the Auditorium de Seynod and the screening of the music documentary *It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley* at the La Turbine cinema.
Programme Hors Pistes 2026
2026 Program
Tuesday, February 17
- Yalla Miku + Shortstraw + Liftx — L'Étoile Rouge, 6:30 PM
Wednesday, February 18
- Vera Daisies — L'Îlot-S, 12:30 PM
- Dressed Like Boys + Elias Dris — Conservatoire, 7:00 PM
- Herman Dune + Kat White + Back and Forth — Chapelle des Forges, 8:30 PM
Thursday, February 19
- Francis of Delirium + Glaascats + Ojos — Chapelle des Forges, 8:30 PM
Friday, February 20
- Alma Rechtman — Médiathèque Bonlieu, 6:30 PM
- David Shaw And The Beat + NASTYJOE + Nightbus — Chapelle des Forges, 8:30 PM
- Souleance + Yan Wagner — Le Brise Glace, 10:00 PM
Saturday, February 21
- Gaia Banfi + Brise Glace Choir — Château d'Annecy, 6:30 PM
- Grímr + Fantaz + Liftx — L'Étoile Rouge, 8:00 PM
- Photons + Güner Künier + Bonne Nuit — Chapelle des Forges, 8:30 PM
Sunday, February 22
- Sleepy Hollow Film-Concert — Auditorium Seynod, 5:00 PM
- Film It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley — Cinéma La Turbine, 8:15 PM
Highlights Hors Pistes 2026
- Nearly 20 concerts in 11 emblematic venues in Annecy
- Herman Dune, Souleance, Yan Wagner as headliners
- Alma Rechtman at Médiathèque Bonlieu
- Gaia Banfi and the Brise Glace choir at Château d'Annecy
- Sleepy Hollow film-concert at Auditorium Seynod
- Traveling bus with free mini-concerts
Prices Hors Pistes 2026
Practical information — Hors Pistes
Practical Information
Venues
The festival takes place in about ten venues spread across Annecy and its associated communes: Chapelle des Forges (Cran-Gevrier), L'Étoile Rouge (Quai de la Tournette), Le Brise Glace, Château d'Annecy, Médiathèque Bonlieu, Conservatoire, Auditorium de Seynod, Cinéma La Turbine, Îlot-S, various concert cafes.
Access
By car: Annecy is accessible via the A41 from Lyon (1h45) or Geneva (40 min).
By train: Annecy SNCF station, festival venues are accessible on foot or by bus.
Prices
Many concerts are free. Paid concerts start from 9 euros. The Free Pass offers a 2 euro discount per ticket when booking 3 concerts.
Contact
- Le Brise Glace: 54 bis rue des Marquisats, 74000 Annecy
- Phone: 04 50 33 65 10
- Website: festivalhorspistes.com
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Travel to this festival
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Where does it take place — Hors Pistes
Le Brise Glace et lieux partenaires
54 bis rue des Marquisats, 74000 Annecy