Archipel Festival 2025 ⎪ 4–13 April ⎟ Geneva
Networking among friends
From 4 to 13 April, the Plainpalais Community Centre hosted the 23rd edition of the Archipel Festival in Geneva, dedicated to contemporary music. It was attended by international experts from the booking sector. Founded in 1992, the Archipel Festival offers a stage for Swiss contemporary music as well as all forms of musical research and sound art.
At this year’s edition, the performing artists also had the opportunity to present themselves and their work during pitching sessions to bookers from all over Europe, who were specially invited by FONDATION SUISA, Pro Helvetia and SONART to network with the local scene as part of the SWISS MUSIC @ home programme. Everyone involved (including us) thoroughly enjoyed the days in Geneva and the fine weather.
The GUEST programme took place over the first three days of the festival, from 4 to 6 April 2025:
- On Friday, we were able to welcome our guests, visit some of the sound installations and attend the opening concerts of the festival. It was a great opportunity to get to know each other and enjoy the festival atmosphere (which was both high quality and relaxed) that radiated throughout the 3-day event..
- Saturday was an opportunity to introduce the Cave 12 (an emblematic venue for the Geneva and international experimental scene) and the artists playing at the festival over the weekend.
- On Sunday, we invited a number of Swiss ensembles to introduce themselves at a morning meeting at Bongo Joe(another of Geneva’s iconic venues).
For us, these were the highlights:
The fantastic diversity amongst young and old, business people and ‘nerds’, national and international musicians and bookers. The mix was so varied, it was a great pleasure!
The informal setting and the friendly get-togethers. At no point did the festival feel like a networking event. Quite the opposite: everything was very informal.
The fantastic weather! Whenever we wanted, we were able to sit under this tree at the long wooden table in the garden of the Maison Communale de Plainpalais.
The GUEST programme is a joint initiative of the FONDATION SUISA, Pro Helvetia and SONART.
SWISS MUSIC @ home at Archipel Festival 2025 in pictures:
