Winter music festivals: The best events across Europe and beyond

Who says festivals are just for summer?

Partying at Horizon, which moves to Andorra in 2017 (Entirety Labs/Ross Silcocks)

You might think that shorter days and plunging mercury equals hibernation and a moribund music scene, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Who cares if it’s cold – these days the festival season is a year-round affair, with a slew of winter events staking their claim to give us something to dance to, and something to look forward to, at the bleakest time of year.

From the winter wonderlands of Austria and Switzerland, to the Nordic nations and even unexpected city break destinations, winter festivals are spread far and wide.

Fat Boy Slim at last year’s Snowbombing festival in Austria (Danny North)

These events are tailored to the climate – no sleeping under canvas and no poolside partying. Instead it’s all about clubs in ski resorts booking big-name DJs and bringing a little something different to the après-ski scene. Or towns putting on big bashes in all their bijou bars – where you can discover the new wave of talent that will be headlining the summer stages later on in 2017.

Slope off

Head for the mountains this winter and you’ll be in hog heaven in terms of the music on offer. It no longer has to be Jean-Michel Jarre in a dodgy disco or cheesy chat-up lines in a sweaty “Irish” pub.

The Alps are alive with the sound of music this winter. Hit Les Deux Alps in France for Rise (10-17 December; risefestival.co.uk; ticket plus lift pass from £199), which ropes in the likes of Rinse FM, Hospitality Records and Ibiza Rocks to curate its parties. Acts confirmed include Kano, Seth Troxler, Bondax, Monki, Logistics, My Nu Leng and Artwork. The nearest airport is Grenoble.

High Contrast and Basement Jaxx are two of the most tasty propositions at Snowboxx (18-25 March 2017; snowboxx.com; tickets from £229) which takes over the French resort of Avoriaz. The easiest access is via Geneva Airport.

Snowbombing combines music with winter sports (Andrew Whitton)

The behemoth of beats in the mountains is Snowbombing (3-8 April 2017; snowbombing.com; price including festival ticket and accommodation from £249 based on five people sharing). Every year Mayerhofen in the Zillertal becomes like Little Britain, such is the Anglo-centric vibe and nationality of the crowd and performers. It’s less the Tyrol and more Tyneside or Tottenham. Chase & Status and Eats Everything are on a suitably diverse bill this year which sees shows on tennis courts, in forest clearings, wood-panelled sweatboxes, sports halls and even mountaintop igloos. It’s incredibly raucous – don’t bank on sleeping. Fly in to Innsbruck or Munich.

Horizon (26 March-April 2 2017; horizonfestival.net; festival passes from £89) used to be a mainstay of the Bulgarian scene but from 2017 it shifts to the tiny principality of Andorra to close out the ski season, with headline sets from Craig Charles and Mumdance. There’s a pre-party in Barcelona on 25 March, from which you can take road transport onwards to Andorra. Oh, and there’s a paintball contest.

La Massana in Andorra hosts the next edition of Horizon

City slickers

One of the winter’s best music festivals is the thrilling Tallinn Music Week (27 March-2 April 2017; tmw.ee; tickets from €40). It’s not just a throwaway series of gigs – they’ve even had the president of Estonia DJing at the launch night, and they pull out the stops to get restaurants, galleries and the people of Estonia’s gorgeous capital involved too. Easyjet and Ryanair fly to Tallinn from Luton and Stansted respectively, and BA launches its new route from Heathrow on 28 March 2017.

Former Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves DJing at Tallinn Music Week (Kristjan Indus)

Bylarm (1-4 March 2017; bylarm.no; festival passes £88) is Norway’s new music showcase. Oslo may be freezing in March but the city becomes hot for the weekend that Bylarm lands. The best of the many top venues the festival squats in is on top of Folkteateret, one of Norway’s tallest buildings. There are flights to Oslo from various UK cities.

Zurich... cool? Trust us, it is. Ignore what you’ve heard about Switzerland being boring, Zurich has class and culture, and a huge hipster neighbourhood around the Schiffbau (an industrial space where ships were once built). This is where M4Music (30 March-1 April 2017; m4music.ch; ticket prices TBC) takes place, showcasing the coolest Swiss bands and some international acts too. The vibe is friendly and the city might surprise you. There’s also an offshoot event in Lausanne, too.

Zurich’s Schiffbau building, where M4Music takes place (Bart van Poll/Flickr)

As the cold starts to ebb away, Toronto will welcome Canadian Music Week (18-22 April 2017; cmw.net; ticket prices vary). The city has become a hotbed of music over the last few years, spawning the likes of Drake and many more besides; and this festival takes over dozens of downtown Hogtown venues, proferring up and coming artists from Canada and indeed the rest of the world.

New music blowouts

Transmusicales (30 November-4 December; lestrans.com; tickets €66) takes place in the Breton cultural nexus of Rennes, a city with a suitably idiosyncratic heritage involving unique architecture and a singular predilection for consuming copious quantities of strong cider. A huge multi-room venue hosts all sorts of eccentric French and international indie and rock, including the spelling nightmare Reykjavíkurdætur and the wonderfully monikered Vagina Town. Flybe flies to Rennes from Southend and Southampton.

A DJ at Transmusicales (Nicolas Joubard)

On a similar tip is Eurosonic Noorderslag (11-14 January 2017; eurosonic-noorderslag.nl; festival tickets from €137.50) which takes over the Dutch university town of Groningen every January to promote new bands from the Netherlands and across Europe, bringing much-needed fun to the most depressing part of the year. Flybe flies to Groningen from Southend, or else it’s a short train journey from Amsterdam.

The Summerlabb pavilion at Eurosonic (Jorn Baars)

Where’s the Music (2-4 February 2017; wheresthemusic.se; tickets from 95SEK) takes place in the small city of Norrkoping and hosts up-and-coming Scandi bands, hopefully wearing some first-rate knitwear. Fly to Stockholm and then travel by bus.

Click here to view our latest travel offers with Independent Holidays