Eighteen thousand festival-goers from all over the world, more than one hundred artists and seven days of electro music, the second edition of the Tomorrowland Winter festival is held in Alpe d’Huez until March 26, 2022.
For six weeks, all the teams were busy setting up all the structures, in particular the main stage, a giant marquee capable of accommodating ten thousand festival-goers. “We are at almost 6,400 m2 usable on two levels, we are creating pretty, very surprising scenes that change every year”, explains Frédéric de Gezelle, media coordinator of Tomorrowland Winter.
Considered the biggest electronic music festival in the world, Tomorrowland attracts many foreign festival-goers. Originally from Miami, Florida, Jack and Harry have just arrived, very impatient to make the most of the event. “We are going to dance, have fun, ski, enjoy the landscapes, with artists and thousands of people who come to party”, they rejoice. The festival started this weekend on several altitude stages such as Chantebise, where a dancefloor grew to 2,200 meters. The partygoers have a great time, like those Germans who made the trip on purpose.“It’s party, happiness, the biggest fiesta in the world!”, they assure.
Among the biggest names in the Tomorrowland Winter line-up, the DJs Kungs, Martin Solveig, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike or Paul Kalkbrenner, the groups Ofenbach, Lost Frequencies, Disco Machine. Sizes of electro music and also some surprises. Former international footballer Djibril Cissé now officiates behind the decks under the name of Dj Tcheba. He offered a mix full of vibrations. “I had great moments in my football career but when it was announced to me that I was going to do Tomorrowland, I was very proud, a little stressed… But it went well, apparently the people are happy!” reports the former Olympique de Marseille striker.
For several years, festivals at altitude have multiplied. Objective for resorts faced with falling snow cover: diversify activities and attract a younger clientele. Still, the impact on nature is not without effects.
With sets that take place over seven days from noon to midnight and sometimes until two in the morning, Tomorrowland is not unanimous on the side of environmental defenders. Transport of equipment by helicopter, heating of the main stage, multiplication of trips, noise pollution for animals… In a press release, the association Mountain Wilderness France denounces a “ecological aberration”.
Born in 2005, Tomorrowland is held every summer in Belgium in front of hundreds of thousands of fans. He flew to the Alpine peaks in 2018 for a first edition which had already sparked disputes. A hundred cultural actors then denounced in an open letter a subsidy of 400,000 euros from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. This year, the region would have reduced its contribution to the festival. Still according to the Mountain associationWilderness, she would have planned to support Tomorrowland Winter through a €100,000 grant for the town hall of Alpe d’Huez.
The question of eco-responsibility was also raised by the Ministry of Culture in January 2022, which considers that “festivals deploy means and actions that have an impact on lifestyles, making it necessary to ensure that no natural site is permanently damaged”. In other words, pTo benefit from the support of the Ministry of Culture, a festival must meet a set of simple and obvious conditions that do not harm sustainable development and the environment.
Tomorrowland Winter in Alpe d’Huez from March 19 to 26, 2022.