Nuits Sonores

Lyon at the heart of electronic music

The history of Nuits Sonores began in Lyon back in 2003. Members of the non-profit organisation ArtyFarty, which founded the event, decided to take over the city, its heritage and its industrial sites to create a festival celebrating electronic music. 

Every May, the Nuits Sonores festival attracts thousands of visitors to Lyon. For five days and four nights, the crème de la crème of artists from the international, national and local electronic music scenes take to the city’s stages. Laurent Garnier, Patrick Vidal, Richie Hawtin, Jon Hopkins, Moderat, Amelie Lens, Nils Frahm and more recently Lyon’s own Bernadette, Mangabey, Umwelt, are just a few of the artists to have played Nuits Sonores since the early days.

The first historic night of this unique festival was held at the Transbordeur, then the former Fagor-Brandt factories, which hosted the event for multiple years, transforming this iconic industrial wasteland into a unique forum for cultural creation.

Over two decades later, Nuits Sonores is recognised as one of the electronic scene’s most respected festivals, featuring nearly 200 artists every year.

Nuits Sonores extras

Over the years, the Nuits Sonores programme has become increasingly varied, adding art events, conferences, screenings, daytime debates, etc. to celebrate independent contemporary cultures. Subs… and H7 welcome festival-goers.

The festival hasn’t forgotten about the kids: since 2012, the Nuits Sonores fringe event “MiniSonore” has been putting on creative, multimedia, musical workshops to stimulate kids’ creativity. 

Finally, the “extras” have also featured among the festival’s highlights. Zany, unusual and novel events are organised outside the festival’s hours, giving festival-goers the chance to enjoy unique experiences: listening to music in a car converted into a jacuzzi, taking part in the world musical chair championship (soundtracked by a set from renowned DJs), giant karaoke, the world’s biggest paper boat race, etc. Every year, some forty ever crazier projects are included in the Nuits Sonores daytime programme.

Finding the festival’s venues

In the 7th district, the Fagor factories play host to Nuits Sonores, with a single central stage, a redesigned stage design, and a reduced capacity.
On the Presqu’île, H7 is opening up its main room to house a stage focused on local collectives, while Le Sucre is putting on intimate club-style events from midnight to the early hours.

The Days head down to their favourite playground and experimental site: the banks of the River Saône. The festival spills over onto one of its historic sites, expanding the outdoor area by setting up shop at the AZAR Club, where a fourth stage is erected.

This year’s event will also see the return of cult partners including:

• The Lyon Auditorium, which will once more provide the setting for the special concert
• The SUBS, a venue which host 4 nights of events…
• Public spaces for the “Public Domain” events