March
13–19 Rock the Pistes, Portes du Soleil, France/Switzerland
Credit Jo Simoes
Firmly established now as one of the biggest festivals in the Alps, with 28,000 attending, five free big concerts are staged on the ski slopes at 1.30pm daily – you just need a lift pass to be able to get to them. More than 30 smaller après-ski concerts are also staged in the dozen Portes du Soleil resorts.
19–26 Tomorrowland, Alpe d’Huez, France
The first Tomorrowland in the Alps was a huge success in 2019, attracting 30,000 fans, but the second had to be cancelled just days before it was due to take place, and the hope it would return for 2021 was also thwarted. Three years on, we’re hopefully finally here!
19–26 Snowboxx, Avoriaz, France
Credit Geoffrey Hubbel
Hosted in car-free Avoriaz, Snowboxx is back and going head-to-head on dates with Tomorrowland. The already sold-out festival has hosted some of the biggest acts including Stormzy, Rudimental, Basement Jaxx and Fatboy Slim along with other huge DJs, live acts and plenty of parties.
26–27 SnowpenAir, Grindelwald, Switzerland
Switzerland’s open air concert in the stunningly beautiful Jungfrau region has attracted big names in the past, including veteran rockers Deep Purple twice, in 2000 and 2014, along with acts including Status Quo, The Scorpions and Toto. This year’s headliner Helene Fischer has sold 15 million records.
28–1 April Altitude Comedy Festival, Mayrhofen, Austria
There’s music, but the main focus of this long-running festival, established back in 2007, is comedy. The 2022 line-up includes festival founders snowboarder Marcus Brigstocke along with Andrew Maxwell as well as Rich Hall, Zoe Lyons, Shappi Khorsandi and many others.
April
2 Top of the Mountain concert, Ischgl, Austria
An institution in the Alps for decades now, Ischgl’s season-closing long-weekend highlight has in years past featured acts including Kylie, Elton, Robbie and Rihanna among many other famous names. In 2022, the concert appears to be being staged a month before the usual end-of-season date.
5–10 Zermatt Unplugged, Switzerland
An intimate festival shows off acoustic talent from around Europe on stages spread throughout the village with over 100 concerts taking place across five days. Some of the big-name performers include Ellie Goulding and Nena of 99 Red Balloons fame.
4–9 Snowbombing, Mayrhofen, Austria
One of the biggest and longest-established festivals in the Alps, it’s 23 years since the first Snowbombing festival. Snowbombing takes over the Tirolean village with six headline venues, four mountain stages, forest parties, their infamous igloo raves and a whole lot of big-name acts.
8–10 & 15–17 Caprices, Crans Montana, Switzerland
The Caprices Festival is one of the few that has managed to keep going, to some extent, through the pandemic, staging a summer event when a winter one wasn’t permitted due to restrictions. Back over two weekends, this is the dream festival for fans of underground house and techno music from across Europe.
