Every summer, the city of Annecy organises an atypical and silent festival: Annecy Paysages. Imagined as a stroll through the emblematic places of the Little Venice of the Alps, the visitor will walk through the city, meeting about thirty installations.
A festival like a stroll
These artists’ works are a mixture of contemporary art and landscape creations. They are grouped on three main sites. First, on the Thiou, a river that runs through the Old Town. It is used to install fragile works, which are therefore preserved from the public, who admire them along the canal.
The Jardins de l’Europe park, behind the Town Hall, allows for monumental and playful installations in connection with the wooded area.
Finally, on the Albigny peninsula, part of the Charles Bosson Park lawn is transformed into improbable vegetable gardens. In 2021, the city of Annecy has decided to perpetuate this plant work, which aims to raise visitors’ awareness of the diversity of vegetables and the importance of picking them in a rational manner.
This large round garden was created in 2018 by Guillaume Popineau and David Trigolet. Once mature, the vegetables can be picked by walkers. The artistic aim is to change the way the spectator looks at these places in Annecy.
As you walk around, you will find creations in other places, such as the lakeside, the Bonlieu centre or theIle des Cygnes. Some of the artistic creations are monumental and allow the public to walk through them or use them. For example, giant wooden swings are available to visitors, and humidified passages allow them to cool off. In 2021, the Bonlieu centre will host a vertical vegetable garden with a floor area of 20 m² and a height of 3 m. The metal elements on which the vegetable garden rests will be used to create a new space for the garden. The metal elements on which the plants rest are piled up on a basin that will be fertilized by the excrement of fish. This work, called “Comme un légume dans l’eau” (Like a vegetable in water), is signed by Guillaume Popineau and David Trigolet of the Cultures urbaines collective.
These unexpected encounters are the charm of this silent festival.
Practical info
The Annecy Paysages festival takes place from the beginning of July to September 15th. It is free of charge.
More information
If during your holidays in Annecy, you wish to visit the neighbouring Switzerland, you can go to the city of Lausanne. It offers a festival in the same style: Lausanne Jardins.
These two cultural events are part of a European cross-border cooperation project: Naturapolis Annecy-Lausanne. There is therefore a coherence to visit these two events in summer, if you have enjoyed the one in Annecy.
The 2020 edition of the Annecy Paysages Festival
Fortunately, despite the health crisis, the Festival has been maintained. But the traditional inaugural walk in the city was held at the top of the Semnoz. Discover the Grande Balade du Semnoz on 18 and 19 July 2020.
The 2021 edition of the Annecy Landscape Festival
The festival will take place from 3 July 2021 to 26 September. Its geographically extensive nature with many places to visit will avoid concentrations of people and make this event compatible with the distancing measures necessary during the health crisis. Many contemporary artists will present their creations in the public space of Annecy. This summer festival is free.
The festival will include forty installations in the Annecy area, four of which will be created by young artists. Exhibitions will be presented in the following municipal sites: La Turbine, the Palais de l’Île, the Haras, the Point Commun and the Îlot-S. This year, the focus will be on our relationship with the environment, on sustainable forest management. The “vegetable garden in the city” in Charles Bosson Park will be renovated. An aquaponics project will be installed in the Bonlieu centre, which will allow the development of a system that combines fish breeding and plant cultivation.
In a former industrial area of the city, the festival is hosting“La Friche des Rails” this year. This is an installation of stationary wagons without wheels that allow visitors to attend shows and, in the long term, to reflect on the rehabilitation of the Trois Fontaines district with the town council.
