Musilac is a French music festival. It occurs in Aix-les-Bains, France every year since 2002. It lasts between two and four days, in mid-July, at the Esplanade of the Lac du Bourget. The festival's popularity has steadily increased, with about 75,000 spectators in 2012, compared to 15,000 in 2003. This popularity is greatly helped by the many different genres of music present, from Rock to Electro, Pop to Reggae and many more. This is in contrast to many other festivals which specialize in a specific genre. One of the aims of this festival is to help young local talent get wider publicity, for example Coming Soon.
Location and access
The festival takes place in Aix-les-Bains on the Lac du Bourget. Musilac is accessible by all means of transport, for example the following:
The Musilac festival has a large number of partnerships from different sectors and industries. The three main sponsors of the event are Aix-les-Bain Tourism, Savoie Conseil Général and the Crédit Mutuel. They also have other important partnerships with media brands such as Virgin Radio, Direct Star, the local newspaper le Dauphiné and a specialized magazine Rock & Folk. They also have what they call their official sponsors such as Teisseire a French syrup company, Kronenbourg the best selling beer in France, Fnac a French international retail chain selling cultural and electronic products, the Haute-Savoie county council and the guitar game Rocksmith. The festival also made partnerships with local businesses such as Chartreuse, Jean Lain automobile, Tercinet Audition, the Aix-Les-Bains shopkeepers association, the local bus organization Ondea, Internationales Moquettes and Airstar, Install’ service, CALB, Marina Adelphia. In addition to these local partnerships, there are also major corporate partnerships such as Coca-Cola, Pathé Cinema, Point.P, Monoprix, INPES. Musilac also supports the human rights organization Amnesty and French charity Laurette Fugain. The latter encourages people to donate their blood-platelets for people affected by leukemia. Mrs Stéphanie Fugain, the charity's president, sponsored the event in 2009 as guest of honor. The festival is a key place for their campaign as a lot of young people attend.
Cost and finance
The price to access to the festival in 2012 and 2013 is the same. The following tickets options are available:
Tickets are cheaper the earlier you buy them: the Pass Confidance costs €69, there is only a fix number of this tickets available..
Then, the Pass Promo costs €89 and when it's sold out, the normal pass for the 3 days will cost €119.
There is also the possibility to buy a one-day pass for €49.
For the camping access, the price is €5 per night, so €15 for the 3 days.
Musilac is a private SARL, but is helped by the tourism office of Aix-les-Bains by more than 400 €000 every year. The benefits for the SARL is around 400 €000. In comparison, the estimated benefits for the local shops is around 10 €000.
Attendance
Average number of spectators each year :
2003: 15 000 spectators
2004: 20 000 spectators
2005: 33 000 spectators
2006: 40 000 spectators
2007: 60 000 spectators
2008: 60 000 spectators
2009: 62 000 spectators
2010: 72 000 spectators
2011: 82 000 spectators
2012: 75 000 spectators
In terms of attendance Musilac Festival is ranked as the eighth most popular festival in France, with an average of 46 000 spectators over the past nine years. This festival is less important than festivals like Vieilles Charrues Festival which attracted in 2011 more than 270 000 spectators or Great Britain's biggest festival, the Glastonbury Festival which reached nearly 1 million spectators in 2012.
Accommodation
The Musilac Festival occurs over a three-day period; thus, sleeping areas are provided by the festival. There are currently two campsites: Lamartine and Bognette are associated with the event and located near by as now people prefer to camp than be in a hotel. Aix-les-Bains also has a wide range of hotel and campings offers close to the site.
Food and drinks
Aix-les-Bains offers many bars and restoration areas providing food, snacks and drinks. Camping and hotels can also offer meals to their customers. The Musilac Festival itself also means 25 restaurants, two wine bars, a juice bar and five snack shops.
Ecology
Big events such as Musilac often end up with a large amount of garbage such as plastic cups covering the area, bottles, etc. The festival has thus created two projects allowing them to be ecological friendly. To avoid waste of cups, they are given to spectators with a one euro caution fee, that will be then given back when it is returned. By being partners with Ecocup, the festival then recycles all the cups giving them a second life as beach ash trays or even car accessories. Musilac also offers a recycling garden put in place with their partner Coca-Cola, where in exchange of plastic bottles they offer gifts created from bottle recycling, and then reuse the plastic to create garden furniture for Musilac.