MIDI Festival

MIDI Festival: Indie Rock Invades the Roman Ruins of Hyères

Founded in 2006, the MIDI Festival holds a special place in the French festival landscape. While most major music events take place in stadiums, open fields, or cities, MIDI has made the bold and poetic choice to set up camp every summer on the archaeological site of Olbia, a Greek and Roman city founded in the 4th century BC, now a listed monument, in the commune of Hyères-les-Palmiers.

This unique setting—ancient remains surrounded by Mediterranean pine forests, a few kilometers from the Hyères Islands—gives the festival an incomparable atmosphere. Concerts are held in the evening, from 7 PM until dawn, when the illuminated ruins create a backdrop worthy of the greatest science fiction films. The nearby sea, the cicadas at dusk, the warm mistral wind: Olbia is a musical venue like few others.

A Resolutely Independent and International Program

The strength of the MIDI Festival lies in its program: demanding, curious, international, it showcases emerging artists and bands that push the boundaries between genres. Indie rock, post-rock, dream-pop, shoegaze, electro-pop, garage, new wave: MIDI Festival is an open window onto the most inventive sounds from Europe and the English-speaking world.

The major French national stages and mainstream rock lineups are not the focus of MIDI Festival, which prefers to bet on discovery, surprise, and musical excellence. Many artists programmed in Hyères have since risen to international stardom.

Artists from Europe and the World

Over its twenty editions, MIDI Festival has hosted bands from the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Scandinavia, and France. In 2026, the lineup perfectly illustrates this geographical and stylistic openness:

• Ulrika Spacek (United Kingdom) — London-based psychedelic rock collective with textured and hypnotic guitars
• Elias Rønnenfelt (Denmark) — solo singer and guitarist, known as the frontman of Iceage, a figure of Nordic post-punk
• Marlon Magnée (France) — former keyboardist of La Femme, exploring synth-pop and baroque electro territories solo
• Snuggle (United Kingdom) — duo blending indie rock and dream-pop with a contemporary sensibility
• Giorgio Poi (Italy) — Milanese singer-songwriter, a figure of the new Italian song tinged with bossa nova and delicate pop
• Lauren Auder (France/United Kingdom) — Franco-British artist with a unique voice, between baroque pop and dreamlike electro

The Olbia Site: An Unparalleled Stage

The Olbia Archaeological Area, managed by the Department of Var, is one of the best-preserved ancient sites in the PACA region. Founded around 330 BC by the Greeks of Marseille, Olbia was later Roman and then Byzantine before being abandoned in the Middle Ages. The site today reveals its paved streets, atrium houses, thermal baths, and ramparts, all elements that make this place a natural setting for science fiction or a peplum.

During the three evenings of the MIDI Festival, musicians perform against the backdrop of these two millennia of history. The main stage is set up in the very heart of the site, feet in the ruins, eyes turned towards the stars.

20th Anniversary: A Key Milestone

The 2025 edition marked the 20th anniversary of the MIDI Festival—an occasion to celebrate two decades of an atypical and courageous musical project. The festival remains one of the few French events to have maintained a rigorously indie program for so long, without ever yielding to the temptations of the mainstream or easy profitability.