Balelec Festival
| Festival Balélec | |
|---|---|
| Genre | |
| Dates | Yearly, in May |
| Location(s) | Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Coordinates | 46°31′6.41″N 6°33′59.05″E / 46.5184472°N 6.5664028°E |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Founders | students at EPFL |
| Attendance | 16'000 people |
| Website | https://balelec.ch/en/ |
The Balélec Festival is the largest musical event organized by students in Europe. It is usually the first open-air music festival happening in Switzerland each year during Spring. It is organised by volunteers on the campus of École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne near lake Geneva in Lausanne, Switzerland around the beginning of May.
Originally the ball of the school's electronics faculty, the festival is known to happen on a rainy day. It has been held at EPFL since 1981. Each year on a Friday night the school welcomes 15'000 people (since 2003) and 30 live concerts. Concerns about excessive consumption of alcohol at the festival are denied by the organizers.
In 2015 and again in 2016, the festival once again attracted a sold out crowd of about 15,000 spectators. The budget for the 2016 festival was 650,000 swiss francs.