When Tomorrowland Winter hits Alpe d’Huez in southeastern France in March, it turns the traditional ski resort into an unmissable electronic music festival.
Who says festivals are just for summer? Every March, the world-famous EDM extravaganza Tomorrowland takes over the Alpe d’Huez for its winter edition, bringing 30,000 people and the biggest names in electronic dance music to the French snow-capped peaks for a week.
Set at the legendary ski resort known for its blue skies and sunshine just an hour from Grenoble, Tomorrowland Winter is a rare hybrid: part top-tier music festival, part high-altitude alpine escape. By day, there’s skiing, snowboarding and activities ranging from dogsled rides to paragliding; while at night, revellers dance under the stars to euphoric sets by the best artists in EDM, techno and house.
After all, this isn’t a festival just for snow sports. While there are slopes to suit every ability level, music-lovers from across the globe come to simply enjoy the après-ski vibe, fuelling up on cheese fondue, outdoor barbeques and vin chaud at one of Alpe d’Huez’s 50-plus restaurants and bars while hopping between the breathtaking mountain stages (all accessible to skiers and non-skiers alike).
The music spans the full spectrum of electronic sounds. Dance icons like Alesso and Steve Aoki will be playing anthems at the heated mainstage, with more intimate spots hosting hypnotic techno, deep house and experimental sets from emerging acts and local talent. The lineup is as carefully curated as the snow-sprayed pyrotechnics, and each set is choreographed to elevate the spectacle. A great festival should feel like an alternate reality – and this is a frosted, through-the-looking-glass experience that is out of this world.
It’s why, since its debut in 2019, the winter event has become the festival’s most seductive offshoot. The original Belgian edition is known for its immersive magic, and here you’ll find equally elaborate stages with fantastical themes and cinematic visuals, heightened by a pristine blanket of powder-white snow and vast mountain ranges.
Stages appear at the top of ski runs, in village squares and inside covered arenas, with a level of production detail that borders on obsessive. “Tomorrowland is about creating a world where people can connect,” founder Michiel Beers has said. “Music is the language, but the experience is the message.”
Three acts not to miss
Steve Aoki
A long-standing Tomorrowland favourite, EDM heavyweight Steve Aoki knows exactly how to command a crowd. Expect his notorious cake-throwing chaos and a tightly-constructed set of festival-worthy anthems and playful theatrics, guaranteed to be a high point for dancing in snow boots.
Alok
Brazilian superstar Alok is known for his sleek take on bass house and dance-pop, delivered with arena-sized energy and hands-in-the-air moments aplenty. If his set at Tomorrowland Belgium last year – now with more than four million views on YouTube – is anything to go by, this is sure to be another festival-defining moment.
Charlotte de Witte
Renowned for her uncompromising, high-energy sound and razor-sharp mixing, techno powerhouse Charlotte de Witte’s arctic intensity feels made for the snow-swept slopes of Alpe d’Huez. Also a Tomorrowland regular, the Belgian DJ and producer offers a darker edge to the lineup and an ideal counterbalance to acts like Steve Aoki and Alok.
Written by: Kathleen Johnston
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