Paléo Festival Nyon

The festival

The Paleo Festival Nyon is Switzerland's largest open air festival: a week of eclectic concerts on the plain of Asse, between world leaders, discoveries and Village du Monde dedicated to a region of the world each year. In 2027, it will celebrate its 50th edition with an exceptional format extended to seven days, from 19 to 25 July 2027.

It all started in 1976, in the folk effervescence of the 1970s: a handful of music lovers from the Folk Club de l'Escalier organized the First Folk Festival in the Nyon communal hall. As the headliner, Malicorne; in the room, 1,800 enthusiastic spectators. As early as 1977, the festival aired in Colovray, on the shores of Lake Geneva, and grew up for a look. In 1983, it took the name of "Paléo", a wink of a race horse on which its founder, Daniel Rossellat, had been betting successfully. By the late 1980s, the Nyon Folk Festival became Paleo, already gathered 90,000 people.

In 1990, the festival set up on the plain of Asse, north of Nyon: a vast playground that must be completely imagined — new scenes, ambitious scenes, concerts that became legendary. Miles Davis played stars there in 1990; Bob Dylan made a surprise appearance there in 1995. Since then, the largest ones have trodden the plain: Muse, Stromae, James Brown, Elton John, Sting, Johnny Hallyday, Björk, Rosalía or The Cure — and Neil Young has delivered concerts in an torrential rain.

At the turn of the millennium, Paleo became a true cultural city: the Village du Monde was celebrating a region every year, La Ruche welcomed circus and street arts, and the festival reached its capacity of 250,000 festivalgoers — complete in a few minutes. He was carried by his non-profit association and thousands of volunteers, and he federated five generations around a bold and popular programming, without ever denying his early friendship. In 2025, he was elected Best European Festival and awarded Greener Festival certification; in 2026, his 49th edition (21-26 July) has crossed the line of 8 million festivalgoers since its creation, including Katy Perry, The Cure and Gorillaz.

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In our articles

• Paléo Festival Nyon, winner at the 2025 European Festival Awards, joins the Festival TV catalogue

In images — the festival in official photos

Video — Official aftermovie 2026 featured

More videos — aftermovies from past editions, Best Of 2026 day by day, Tuk Tuk Talks and festival-goers' images — on the Page Videos of the mini-site Paleo.

Takana Zion in Paleo 2009

In 2009, Guinean reggae was invited to the plain of Asse: Takana ZionThe concert will be cut short – interrupted from 2 minutes 50 – an episode that has remained in the memory of the festival's guests. The artist's signature for this event: "Takana Zion — Paleo Festival, Nyon (Switzerland), 2009". The concert's video is not yet hosted on Festival TV; in the meantime, find the artist on his dedicated page.

To see around the festival

The Castle of Nyon — the white fortress which dominates the city and the lake, the seat of the historic museum and porcelain. The Museum of Geneva — the memory of the lake: fishing, navigation and rescue, just a few steps from the shores. The shores of Lake Geneva — the Nyon promenade, its beach and its view of the Alps and Mont Blanc in clear weather. More details on the Page Around the Festival.