Au Bord De L'eau

The amount of festivals has continued to increase in recent history, from big commercial events to smaller intimate affairs. It's great to see such a wide choice all over the world. The Week-end Au Bord De L'eau is in its 7th year in 2013, having grown exponentially since its first attempt, offering a variety of fun things to do and hosting some great acts in its history, but still maintaining a personal feel in the spirit of independent festivals. The event is hosted in the beautiful town of Sierre in Switzerland, a few hours from Geneva, and is very much created from the village itself. Organised by The Fun & Floor crew, this festival truly caters for all ages and different types of people too. The festival site is pitched by the beautiful Lac de Géronde, a stunning Lake surrounded by mountains. Sierre is famous for great living as, due to the eco climate, there is an abundance of sun and therefore great food and wine. Certainly this festival is winning the hearts of many who have visited and is maintaining the subtle intimate touches only an independent festival can create. 

I had the pleasure of going to Week-end Au Bord De L'eau a couple of years ago and it's obvious the festival is going from strength to strength. The line-up this year is great, with acts such as Theo Parrish, Brassroots, DJ Cam, Mark De Clive Lowe, as well as some awesome fun things to do like stand up paddle surfing on the Lake and some fantastic quirky touches like German act Puppetmastaz playing and the brilliant Pierrot des Ballons with his amazing balloon creations.

Friday kicks off with the funk! Swiss act DJ Lee and his vinyl collection of funk tracks will add some classic, sweet soul and attitude to ignite Week-end Au Bord De L'eau 7ème edition with some style! French Tal Stef, producer and founder of label and shop 'Soultronik' will be bringing a sweet selection and some of his own tracks that have received critical acclaim. World group Abyssinie Club will be here with the sound of Ethiopia, merging a fusion of traditional African/French sounds with new electronic music, while the popular Brassroots displays jazz and pop in a melody of horn instruments and arrangements. Old school US hip hop group The Coup will certainly bring some fantastic energy to Sierre, followed by The Puppetmastaz who are a German hip hop electro group in the form of a puppet show that should certainly be something fun and different for Friday night. All of this is warming up nicely for the prolific and genius talent of US producer/DJ Theo Parish to finish the evening.  No doubt Friday will be amazing!

Continue reading: Week-end Au Bord De L'eau - 7th edition - 28th-30th June 2013 - Preview

The weekend Au Bord De L'eau celebrated its fifth year in existence on July 1st/2nd/ 3rd July 2011. This is a great achievement considering this underground and progressive festival is competing with big budget festivals. The fact that they are attracting pioneering acts from all over the world to a remote and traditional part of Switzerland is to be noted. Sierre is located in the 'Valais' area of Switzerland, famous for its quaint traditions, obvious beauty and charming indulgences. Indeed even Swiss people find it hard to believe that something as contemporary as Au Bord De L'eau even exists and are intrigued to find that people would travel far and wide to visit this abundant, cute and remote place. I guess the success of this project really comes down to the effort and brain of Christophe Zwissig whose vision and focus has created a true festival, in the old sense of community spirit, in a genuinely pristine setting.

Continue reading: Au Bord De L'eau, 1st/2nd/3rd July 2011, Sierre, Switzerland Live Review