| 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 Balelec Festival is the largest musical event organized by students in Europe.[1][2] 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[3] 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.[4] Each year on a Friday night the school welcomes 15'000 people (since 2003) and 30 live concerts. [5][6] Concerns about excessive consumption of alcohol at the festival are denied by the organizers.[7]
In 2015 and again in 2016, the festival once again attracted a sold out crowd of about 15,000 spectators.[8] The budget for the 2016 festival was 650,000 swiss francs.[9]