Festival des Forêts

What Festival des Forêts does

Festival des Forêts is a non-profit association (association loi 1901) founded in 1992 and headquartered in Compiègne, Hauts-de-France, France. It operates an annual classical music festival in the forests of Compiègne and Laigue, staging approximately 20 concerts per edition across roughly 14 venues including churches, châteaux, historic churches, and forest clearings, alongside an in-house program of "Musical Forest Baths" (Bains de Forêt Musicaux), concert-hikes, in-tree concerts, and cyclo-musical rides. The festival reaches 9,000+ spectators annually, with documented 24% audience growth between 2012 and 2019, and engages 80 composers and 300 guest artists per edition under a composer-in-residence model currently held by Thierry Escaich.

The portfolio is structured around nine core product lines: concerts (three pricing tiers A/B/C from €14 to €34), Musical Forest Baths (€40 per person, 3-hour guided experience), family and children's workshops (P'tites Zoreilles for ages 4-10 at €6-10), the Léo Delibes Composition Academy, the school inclusion program (since 1996, reaching 460 schoolchildren across 12 schools), forest hikes, family special days, a Festival Pass (€180 for 20 concerts), and gift cards. Ancillary revenue comes from catering (regional picnics, buffets, wine and cheese tastings). Distribution is direct-to-consumer via the festival website (ticketing through Mapado), phone, mail, partner tourist offices in Compiègne and Pierrefonds, and on-site sales.

The revenue model combines ticket sales, catering, and gift cards with substantial public subsidies (Région Hauts-de-France, Département de l'Oise, Ville de Compiègne, ARC, CNM, SACEM) and corporate sponsorship (94 public and private partners total). The festival is supported by a lean permanent team of 12 staff plus approximately 100 volunteers during the festival season, operates on a disclosed annual budget of €560K, and was named among the top 3 classical music festivals in France by Radio Classique Trophies in 2021 and received the Prix du Développement durable in 2024.

Name

Festival des Forêts

Legal name

Festival des Forêts

Website

https://festivaldesforets.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Festival des Forêts is a non-profit classical music festival in Compiègne, France, founded in 1992, staging 20 concerts, musical forest baths, and family workshops in the Compiègne and Laigue forests for 9,000+ spectators annually, supported by 94 institutional and corporate partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Classical Music Festival

NAICS

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71), Musical Groups and Artists (711130), Musical Groups and Artists (71113)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Music Festival Organizers & Promoters (MPAGAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Concerts & Music Festivals (THAJAFAA), Arts & Culture Community Festivals (Multidisciplinary Arts Weeks) (MPAGAEAG), Music Conservatories & Music Colleges (EDAHAJAC)

Keywords

• Classical music festivals
• Musical forest baths
• Live concert performances
• Cultural events management
• Music education programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Compiègne

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Ticket sales: Direct ticket sales for concerts, musical forest baths, and workshops through online platform, phone, mail, and on-site. Tiered pricing based on seating category.
2. Gift cards (Carte Cadeau): Gift cards valid for concerts, musical forest baths, and festival activities
3. Catering and hospitality: Festival bar with regional products, pre-concert picnics, buffets, and wine & cheese tastings sold up to 48 hours before concerts
4. Corporate sponsorship and partnerships: Financial and in-kind support from institutional partners (Région, Département, Ville, ARC), corporate sponsors, and media partners

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Festival des Forêts organizes an annual classical music festival held in the forests of Compiègne and Laigue, featuring approximately 20 concerts, 14 musical forest baths, and educational programs across forests, historic churches, châteaux, and priories. Its signature offering is the proprietary "Bains de Forêt Musicaux" (Musical Forest Baths), a 3-hour guided experience combining shinrin yoku with live classical music, plus the Léa Delibes Composition Academy and a school-based pedagogical project reaching 460+ children annually.

Product overview

Festival des Forêts is a classical music festival offering a diverse portfolio of products and services centered around music, nature, and heritage. The core offering includes concerts held in exceptional natural and historical venues (forests, castles, churches), musical forest baths combining shinrin yoku with live music, family-oriented concerts and children's workshops (P'tites Zoreilles), and forest hikes with musical accompaniment. The festival also operates an annual composition academy (Académie Léo Delibes), an educational outreach program for schools, and sells season passes (Festival Pass) and gift cards. Ticketing is handled through an online platform. The festival's 34th edition runs from June 21 to July 12, 2026.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Bains de Forêts Musicaux: Musical forest bathing experiences combining contact with nature, meditation, and live music, designed as 3-hour guided walks by a coach and musician. This unique concept was created by the festival and draws from Japanese shinrin yoku practices.
• Académie de Composition Léo Delibes
• Les P'tites Zoreilles

Products and services

• Concerts Classical music concerts held in forests, castles, historic churches, priories, and concert halls across the Compiègne and Laigue forests, with tiered pricing by venue category.
• Bains de Forêt Musicaux (Musical Forest Baths) Proprietary 3-hour guided forest experience combining Japanese shinrin yoku practices with live classical music, meditation, and nature observation walks, available year-round and as private group sessions.
• Concerts jeune public / P'tites Zoreilles Children's family concerts and P'tites Zoreilles artistic awareness workshops for ages 4-10, including musical discovery and creative activities.
• Académie de composition Léa Delibes Composition academy led by composer-in-residence Thierry Escaich for advanced composition students and young composers, hosted at Villa du Châtelet, with selected works premiered at the festival.
• Marches en forêt (Concert-hikes) Pre-concert hiking experiences combining 12km+ nature walks with thematic guided tours and concerts in forest clearings or historic venues.
• Journée spéciale famille (Family Day) Special family-oriented event combining concerts, creative and musical workshops, baby concerts, and forest bathing experiences for families.
• Projet pédagogique (School Project) Year-round educational program pairing mainstream and disabled children across 12 Oise-region schools for joint musical discovery projects, reaching 460+ schoolchildren annually since 1996.

Quantifiable outcome

• 24% audience growth between 2012 and 2019
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• EU-Phonia Network (Music Festival Lviv, Pelion Festival, Klasik Keyifler, Norrtalje Sommarnattenstoner, Festivāls Ad Lucem, Lake Como Festival, Marvao, Poland)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2019Festival des Forêts initiated the creation of a European network of classical music festivals for information exchange, artistic collaboration, professional mobility, and common artistic projects. First meeting took place in October 2019 in Compiègne.
• Région Hauts-de-FrancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional government funding and support for cultural events in the Hauts-de-France region
• Département de l'OisecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDepartmental council providing financial support for the festival's cultural and educational programs
• Ville de CompiègnecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCity of Compiègne providing municipal support and venue access for festival events
• ARC (Agglomération de la région de Compiègne)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUrban community providing major support including ownership and renovation of Saint-Pierre-en-Chastres site and Theatre de Verdure project
• CNM (Centre national de la musique)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational music center providing institutional support and funding for French music festivals
• SACEMcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFrench collective society for authors, composers, and music publishers supporting musical creation
• ONF (Office National des Forêts)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational forest office providing access to forest venues and partnership for 'Branche et Ciné' outdoor cinema events
• Orchestre de PicardiecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional symphony orchestra performing regularly at festival events including concerts with pyrotechnics
• France 3 Hauts-de-FrancecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerRegional television broadcasting documentary series 'La forêt musicale' and news coverage during festival editions
• Radio ClassiquecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerClassical music radio station providing media coverage and awards recognition at Radio Classique Trophées
• Villa du Châtelet (Alix and Philippe de Lauzanne)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrivate estate owners providing accommodation at Villa du Châtelet for composing academy participants; historically where Léo Delibes lived
• Fédération Française des Festivals de Musique et du Spectacle VivantcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational federation of French music festivals; festival is a member organization
• 14 local municipalities (Choisy-au-Bac, Pierrefonds, Saint-Jean-aux-Bois, etc.)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVillages providing concert venues and logistical support including free shuttle access points

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Rencontres Musicales d'Évian: Chamber music festival in Évian, France. Comparable as a French classical music festival series with high-caliber international artists and a regional setting anchoring the audience model.
• Festival de Verbier: Swiss classical music festival. Directly comparable as one of the top 3 classical festivals in Europe alongside Festival des Forêts at Radio Classique Trophées 2021, with a similar tier of international soloists and audience expectations.
• Festival de Saintes: Acoustic and baroque classical music festival in Saintes, France. Comparable as a heritage-setting French classical music festival with international programming and a similar southwest-French regional scale and audience profile.
• Festival International de Colmar: Annual chamber and classical music festival in Colmar, Alsace. Comparable as a French regional classical music festival with significant international artist bookings and a recurring July programming window.
• Festival de La Chaise-Dieu: Classical music festival in Auvergne, France, founded in 1966. Comparable as a long-running regional French classical music festival with heritage venues, a roughly month-long August program, and similar reliance on public subsidies and ticketing.
• Festival Berlioz: Annual classical music festival at La Côte-Saint-André, France. Directly comparable as one of the top 3 French classical festivals named alongside Festival des Forêts at the Radio Classique Trophées 2021, with a similar regional model anchored to a specific French town and heritage identity.

Broad incumbents

• Festival d'Aix-en-Provence: Major French summer opera and classical music festival. Comparable as a flagship French classical music festival operating at a much larger scale, with similar reliance on public funding and historic venues, but with broader international brand reach.
• BBC Proms: Iconic London-based classical music festival. Comparable for the summer multi-week concert format and classical music audience, though it operates at vastly larger scale with global media distribution.

Regional players

• Festival l'Artigue: Smaller outdoor classical music festival in rural France. Comparable for the outdoor and nature-immersed concert format, though it operates at a smaller scale and primarily in a different region than Hauts-de-France.

Others

• Musikenote Festival (Musikenote.eu): European classical music festival network. Comparable as a multi-country classical music festival aggregator and ticketing platform, thematically aligned with Festival des Forêts' EU-Phonia network initiatives.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCVkpqxSO3SaxTiM-9GVfqag
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/festivaldesforets

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Festival des Forêts