Welcome !
Swinging Montpellier is an international SWING music and dance festival initiated by Montpellier jazz enthusiasts from the beginning of the 20th century.
We wanted to organize a festival “outside the walls”, in the street…well, not just any street…. In historical and emblematic places of the city of Montpellier: the Place Royale du Peyrou this year and in 2019 and the esplanade Charles-de-Gaulle in 2021 and 2022.
We want to provide festival-goers and visitors with a unique experience… A cultural experience that combines the beauty of a historic site with a passion for JAZZ music and dance.
This festival is aimed at both beginners and professionals, from the neophyte to the initiated, from young to old , from Montpellier to tourists passing through. It is a festival that unites.
Swinging Montpellier wants to be popular and demanding and revolves around concerts, dance and music master classes, competitions, initiations, open-air balls with orchestras, conferences but also shows, a bingo show and a photo contest!
Welcome to Montpellier, the city that dances and swings.
Welcome to Swinging Montpellier!
THE DANCERS
Lindy Hop lessons
Internationally renowned dancers, Alice Mei and Remy Kouakou Kouame were both already known and recognized before forming this duo. Together, we discover them more musical, precise and stylish than ever!
Solo Jazz Lessons
Felix Berghäll is a Swedish, African, American and vernacular Lindy Hop dancer, performer, choreographer and teacher as well as a DJ and music researcher…
Solo Jazz Lessons
Fatima Teffahi is one of the most important personalities of the Lindy Hop and Swing dance revival in Europe. Today, she is one of the driving forces behind the Herräng Dance Camp in Sweden and plays an important role in its organization.
Lindy Hop lessons
At the age of 15, Frida Segerdahl attended the Herrang Dance Camp and fell in love with the Lindy Hop. In no time at all, he was asked to join the world’s largest jazz dance company, Rhythm Hot Shots. Since 1999, Skye Humphries has taught wherever Lindy Hop is practiced, from national weekends to international dance camps.
THE MUSICIANS
The Carolina Reapers Swing was born from the meeting of young, crazy musicians of the ’30s and ’40s and the “swing” dance. This synergy produced a group that is interested in jazz standards and in the rare pieces that bring together music and “swing” dancing since the early days of “lindy hop”.
By its energy, their style is alive in spite of their chiseled arrangements. That is to say that they combine classicism and a new approach of the “ole’ trad jazz songs” of the “swing” era… and their name is already synonymous with “ça va chauffer !
Live, on Friday, July 21, 2023 at 7pm, at the opening of the festival
and Saturday, July 22, 2023 at 9:00 pm, for the gala evening at the castle of Flaugergues
Programming in progress
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Programming in progress
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Programming in progress
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Programming in progress
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THE PROGRAM
Festival opening night
Place Royale du Peyrou
Inaugural speech
Concert of the Carolina Reapers Swing
Open-air ball and presentation of the teachers
Free – 7pm / 11pm
Place Royale du Peyrou
Dance lessons (upon registration)
Solo Jazz & Lindy Hop initiation (free)
Free concert at 1pm
Free concert at 7pm
10am / 9pm
Gala evening at the Château de Flaugergues
Concert of the Carolina Reapers Swing
Swing ball under the stars
Paid entry
9 p.m. / 1 a.m.
Place Royale du Peyrou
Dance lessons (upon registration)
Solo Jazz & Lindy Hop initiation (free)
Free concert at 1pm
Free concert at 7pm
10am / 9pm
Course prices
Registration opens on February 14, 2023
Registration opens on March 14, 2023
Registration opens on March 14, 2023
Registration opens on April 14, 2023
Registration opens on April 14, 2023
Gala evening rate
Ticketing opens on June 5, 2023
ACCESS MAP
promenade du peyrou
The favorite walk of the Montpellier inhabitants
Thanks to its location and the exceptional view it offers, the Place du Peyrou is an emblematic place of Montpellier. The last royal square built in France, it has the particularity of being a tree-lined esplanade of 3 hectares located at the periphery of the Ecusson at its highest point.
Belvedere widely open to all horizons, it hosts an equestrian statue of Louis XIV, which Jean Giral, the architect, will complete in 1774. The triumphal arch and the water tower that extends the aqueduct are models of classical architecture.
In 1685, Louis XIV designated Montpellier to receive an equestrian statue in his effigy. To build a royal square, the most complete expression of the monarchic glory speech, means to create a worthy setting for the statue of the sovereign. The earthworks and enlargement began in 1689.
It is only 75 years later, under the reign of Louis XVI, in 1766, that the embellishment works are launched. Completed in 1775, the Place Royale du Peyrou was considered one of the most beautiful squares in the kingdom, thanks to its location and the exceptional view it offers.