Crescendo Festival
Introduction
The Crescendo Festival is a FREE music festival dedicated to progressive music genres (progressive rock, progressive metal, psychedelic rock) held annually in Saint-Palais-sur-Mer, in the outskirts of Royan, since 1999. Bringing together artists from both the national and international scenes (from Sweden to Peru to the United States), and attracting around 1500 to 2000 spectators each night over three days, it is one of the most significant progressive music festivals in Europe!
Teaser 2024
The festival is overseen by an association and partly operates thanks to volunteering; it is entirely free of charge.
Heavent Festival Awards Paris 2024
The Crescendo Festival was honoured on 13 November 2024 in Paris by winning the Award for Best European Festival with a capacity of under 5,000 people, in front of a jury of 12 leading figures from major event international companies.
Thank you to the whole team for having contributed to this success for over 20 years.
A word from the boss
You all agree that the 2024 edition has been an amazing year, we've had a lot of positive feedback from you and this is undoubtedly the greatest reward we could wish for.
Casting for the 25th edition has been open for 2 months now, as specified on the website's contact page, and as I write this on November 18, we have already exceeded 90 requests from bands from Europe and beyond. The 6-strong programming committee is working hard to bring you a top selection for the 25th edition, perhaps with one or more surprises?
The results will be announced just before the Christmas holidays.
Jeanmi Picot, President
Location
The festival takes place on the Concié beach located in Saint-Palais-sur-mer in Charente-Maritime.
Access to the Concié site is possible by car from Royan via the Royan ring road or from the center of Saint-Palais-sur-Mer through the Avenue de la Grande-Côte. Coming from La Palmyre, access is direct via the D25. Traffic is often extremely heavy on these routes. Coming from the heart of the Arvert peninsula, La Tremblade, Arvert, Étaules, or Saint-Augustin, the D145 and D141 are less busy.
A network of bicycle paths allows reaching the festival site from Royan and Vaux-sur-Mer. The greenway from Ronce-les-Bains to Saint-Palais-sur-Mer is a bike path that provides access to the site from Ronce-les-Bains and La Palmyre.
The urban transportation of the Royan area (Cara'Bus) serves the event site.
We reserve a part of the Esplanade for free parking of your vehicle.
Festival Dates
August 15th, 16th & 17th - Opening of the site at 5:00pm
It is possible to attend the bands' sound check during the day from 11am.
The festival normally takes place every year in the second half of August, generally the third week-end of the month.
The anticiped dates for 2025 are August 22th to 24th.
See the upcoming schedule.
Accommodations and Catering
At the festival bar you will find drinks : beers, wine, softs and water.
And you will eat : Snacking with sandwiches, sausages with french fries, vegetarian bowls, pancakes, hotdogs, popcorn. Prices from 3 to 9 €
In our list of sponsors and local partners, you will find:
- restaurants,
- hotels,
- snack bars,
- cafes,
- breweries, etc.
List of partners sponsoring the event.
Prohibitions
To ensure the safety and well-being of all festival participants, certain items are prohibited on the site. You will find the list below. Your cooperation is essential to maintain a safe and welcoming environment for everyone.
- 💣 Firearms/powder or ammunition
- 🧳 Large bags (10L maximum), luggage
- 📣 Megaphones, loudspeakers
- 🎆 Lasers
- 🛸 Drones
- 🐕 Animals (except assistance dogs)
- 🍾 Glass or plastic bottles and liquids
- 🪓 Sharp, blunt, cutting objects
- 🧯 Aerosols, sprays, tear gas
- 🧪 Exceptional chemicals
- 🔥 Flammable products, gas bottles, fire starters, lighters
- 🍲 Food (except for medical necessity)
- 🛢️ Metal cans
- 🧨 Fireworks, firecrackers, distress flares
- 🔫 Toy guns
Visitors will be subject to security checks. Some items will be kept in storage. Other items may be added to this list depending on the security requirements of the festival.
Furthermore,
- ⛺️Wild camping is prohibited on the Concié site !