Festivals

A free event held every year in Lausanne in July, the Festival de la Cité is surprising, unconventional and lively, and one of Lausanne residents’ favourite events. Kids, teenagers or adults, locals or tourists, the Festival de la Cité is geared to everyone, with a programme that combines theatre with music, acting with dance, circus acts with street art.

Other festivals are a mix of genres. The Lausanne Carnival constitutes the biggest public festival in the city and takes place with the sound of Guggenmusik, traditional Swiss brass band music, in the background. Lausanne Estivale, which is held from mid-June to mid-September, is a free entertainment extravaganza with over 450 events, including dance, music, theatre, cinema, comedy, tours and unusual walks. The only one of its kind in Europe, the Festival de la Cité is a programme of free open-air multicultural shows that brings together lovers of music, drama, comedy, dance and the visual arts for a whole week (mid-July). The JazzOnze+ Festival is a series of concerts and documentaries promoting contemporary jazz and improvised productions. For 5 days, Ciné Festival puts on previews and other events in partnership with various cultural institutions from the city. For over 10 years, the Lausanne Underground Film & Music Festival has explored independent musical and cinematographic works. In the same vein, Les Urbaines presents free of charge around forty performances, installations, exhibitions, viewings, shows and concerts designed to explore less known and surprising art scenes.

In the field of dance, the Les Printemps de Sévelin Festival offers young choreographers a professional environment in which to produce and present their work. Let us not omit to mention the International Comic Strip Festival in Lausanne, BD-FIL, which stands out as a cultural and convivial event, inviting young and old alike to discover the world of comic strip through exhibitions, meetings, tributes and cartoons. The Museum Night brings together more than 25 museums from Lausanne and Pully, who open their doors to the public for 12 hours and provide over a hundred attractions for a single admission ticket. At the year end, gigantic luminous sculptures distributed throughout the city centre fill young and old alike with wonder during the Lausanne Festival of Lights. One route allows you to view them on foot, while enjoying the Christmas market and its traditional activities.