For nearly three decades, the Montjoux Festival was the big summer music event in Thonon-les-Bains, on the shores of Lake Geneva. Three evenings of open-air concerts, headliners from French chanson and rap, and up to around 15,000 spectators a night: it had become one of the largest events in Haute-Savoie. Its 2026 edition was cancelled, however. Here is a look at its history, its change of venue, the artists who have played there, and the reasons for the cancellation.
Modest beginnings in 1997
The festival was born in 1997, under a different name: Estivalpe. In its early days it was a small event held in the courtyard of the Château de Ripaille in Thonon, with a few concerts on a single stage and about a hundred standing spectators. Nothing like the scale it would later reach.
Over the editions, the event grew, changed its name and moved to the Domaine de Montjoux by the lake, which gave it its current name. The Montjoux Festival became one of the big summer dates in the Chablais, with programming geared towards French chanson, pop, rock and variety, open to rap, soul and world music, on two open-air stages.
The move and the new venue
After years in the park that gave it its name, the festival changed venue while staying in Thonon. Announced in late 2022, this move took it to the Domaine de Ripaille, facing the Château de Ripaille, on the avenue of the same name. A kind of return to its roots, since it was in the courtyard of that castle that everything began in 1997.
After a break in 2024, the festival returned in 2025 at this new site. The 27th edition ran from 4 to 6 July 2025 at the Domaine de Ripaille, between lake and mountains.
The artists who have played there
Over the editions, the Montjoux Festival has hosted major names from the French scene, mostly from chanson, pop and rap: Bigflo et Oli, SCH, Kendji Girac, Tiakola, Emma Peters and Julien Granel.
The 2025 edition sums up this variety well, spread over three evenings:
- Friday 4 July: Tiakola, Yorssy and SCH, around rap and R&B.
- Saturday 5 July: Bigflo et Oli, Julien Granel and Emma Peters.
- Sunday 6 July: Kendji, Helena and Styleto.
On prices, the festival kept a controlled pricing policy and was accessible via the Pass Culture. In 2025, “early bird” tickets started at around 35 € for a day, with two- and three-day passes.
The cancellation of the 2026 edition
On 27 October 2025, at a municipal council meeting, the news broke: there will be no Montjoux Festival in 2026.
Several reasons combine:
- The Tour de France. In July 2026, the Tour de France passes through Thonon-les-Bains. The town chose to focus its resources on organising that event, hard to combine with the festival in the same period.
- Tensions between the town and the organiser. Relations between the town hall and the organising company, Porte Quinze, had become strained, against a backdrop of financial difficulties and a deficit.
- The organiser’s withdrawal. Without an agreement with the town to secure the project’s future, Porte Quinze announced its withdrawal and the impossibility of organising the 2026 edition.
The cancellation is presented as final for 2026. The festival’s future beyond that date remains, at this stage, uncertain.
What next?
For festival-goers in the area, summer 2026 will be lived elsewhere: Haute-Savoie, Savoie and neighbouring Switzerland have several music events. Thonon-les-Bains, for its part, will host the Tour de France. The town and its highlights (the Port de Rives, the Château de Ripaille, Lake Geneva) can be found on the Thonon-les-Bains destination page.