What Volvic Volcanic Expérience (VVX) does

Volvic Volcanic Expérience (VVX) is a French non-profit association (Association Volvic Volcanic) founded in 2017 and headquartered at 5 rue des Sources, Le Goulet, in Volvic, Auvergne, France. The organization operates an annual multi-day trail running and cultural discovery festival held on the Ascension weekend in the Chaîne des Puys and Faille de Limagne volcanic landscape — a UNESCO-recognized natural setting in the Puy de Dôme department. The core offering is a portfolio of eight trail races spanning 15km to 220km (including the 46km Expérience Impluvium de Volvic, 17km Expérience Pierre de Lave, and 112km Expérience Chaîne des Puys-Faille de Limagne), supplemented by youth and family programming (VVX Kids Trail, Les Espoirs Volcaniques), personalized experiences (Run For You), a 14.1km gastronomic hike (Rando Gastro), orientation courses, sports initiations, and an extensive cultural program covering artisan workshops, visits to the Volvic water factory, concerts, and musical evenings.

The organization runs on a lightweight technology stack: event operations and ticketing are outsourced to Sportips.fr (registration, bib management, and live results), while digital marketing relies on Google Analytics, Yandex Metrika, and cookie-based social integrations with Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and AddThis. There is no proprietary technology product; the IP is the event brand, the venue access at Le Goulet, and a multi-edition content archive.

VVX generates revenue through a transaction-fee model: paid registrations for trail races and ancillary tickets for non-sporting cultural, gastronomic, and family experiences, all sold through the Sportips platform. The customer base is B2C and long-tail — amateur and semi-professional trail runners, ultra-marathon participants, hikers, and accompanying family members — distributed across persona segments rather than concentrated in enterprise accounts. Marketing is conducted via the trilingual website (French, English, German), organic social media, a dedicated press portal with archives dating to 2017, and partner co-marketing with Volvic Eau Minérale, the Ville de Volvic, and local artisans.

Name

Volvic Volcanic Expérience (VVX)

Legal name

Association Volvic Volcanic

Website

https://volvic-vvx.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Volvic Volcanic Expérience (VVX) is a French non-profit association that organizes an annual multi-day trail running and cultural discovery festival in Volvic, Auvergne, offering 8 race distances from 15km to 220km alongside gastronomic, artisan, and family experiences.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Outdoor Sports Events

NAICS

Spectator Sports (71121), Tour Operators (561520)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Trail Running & Ultra-Endurance Events (Trail Races, Ultras) (MPAKAIAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Endurance Stage & Destination Challenges (Multi-day Tours, Charity Challenges) (MPAKAIAG)

Keywords

• Trail running events
• Outdoor sports festival
• Cultural tourism experiences
• Sports event registration
• Mountain hiking events

Headquarters

HQ city

Volvic

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Sports event registrations: Revenue is generated through paid registrations for trail running races (various distances) and non-sporting experiences (ambiances et découvertes such as gastronomic hikes, cultural visits). Registration is handled via sportips.fr platform.
2. Non-sporting tickets and experiences: The event sells tickets for cultural experiences, meals, concerts, and animations available to accompanying non-running participants, generating supplementary revenue beyond race registrations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

VVX organizes and operates an annual multi-day trail running and cultural discovery festival held in the volcanic region of Volvic, Auvergne, France. The core offering is paid race registration across eight trail distances ranging from 15km to 220km, complemented by paid non-sporting tickets for cultural visits, gastronomic hikes, meals, concerts, and family animations aimed at accompanying non-running attendees.

Product overview

Volvic Volcanic Experience (VVX) is a sports event organization that runs an annual multi-day trail running festival in Volvic, Auvergne (Puy de Dôme), France. The core product is a portfolio of trail running events ranging from 15km to 220km distances, supplemented by children's events (VVX Kids Trail), youth development (Les Espoirs Volcaniques), personalized running experiences (Run For You), gastronomic hiking (Rando Gastro), and general hiking activities. The offering also includes extensive cultural discovery experiences encompassing site visits, artisan demonstrations, performances, concerts, and gastronomic meals that accompany the sporting activities. The event operates annually over a multi-day period (typically Ascension weekend) with the 2027 edition announced for May 6-8, 2027.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Trail Running Events Core product offering featuring eight trail running races in Auvergne (Puy de Dôme, France) with distances ranging from 15km to 220km, marketed to amateur and semi-professional trail runners and outdoor sports enthusiasts.
• Expérience Impluvium de Volvic

Quantifiable outcome

• Multiple trail distances offered: 15km, 17km, 25km, 43km, 46km, 110km, 112km, and 220km (XGTV ultra trail)
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Volvic Eau Minérale (Cave de Volvic)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerVolvic Eau Minérale is a primary brand partner of the VVX event. The partnership leverages the Volvic brand identity tied to the volcanic spring water source in Volvic. The event venue Le Goulet is associated with the Volvic water impluvium. The partnership includes co-branding, cross-promotion, and exclusive water supply for participants.
• Ville de Volvic (Municipality of Volvic)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe city of Volvic is a key institutional partner, providing municipal support, venue access, and co-marketing through the town's official channels. The event takes place within the municipal area of Volvic and is promoted as a signature regional cultural and sporting event.
• EchalierminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEchalier is listed as a partner of the VVX event, with a website link provided on the main site. The nature of the partnership appears to be local business or cultural collaboration supporting the event.
• Atelier CourtadonminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAtelier Courtadon is a partner providing artisan workshop experiences as part of the VVX cultural discovery program. The workshop was featured in the 2018 edition album as a site visit option for participants.
• Sportips.frcoreTechnology or IntegrationSportips.fr is the official registration and results platform for VVX, handling race sign-ups, bib collection management, and result publication. It serves as the operational backbone for participant management across all VVX events.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Trail du Saint-Quentin: Smaller-scale French trail event with multiple distances and a community/tourism positioning. Comparable as a regional French trail organizer targeting similar amateur participant segments, though at a smaller scale than VVX.

Others

• Sportips: French online registration and results platform used by VVX for race sign-ups, ticketing, and bib logistics. Relevant as VVX's core technology/operational backbone for participant management and revenue capture.

Direct peers

• Éco-Trail de Paris: Major French trail running event in the Paris region offering multiple distances (from ~10km to 80km+) with a sustainability positioning. Comparable as a multi-distance French trail event targeting similar amateur to semi-pro trail-running enthusiasts.
• UTMB (Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc): Flagship global ultra-trail event held in the Alps (Chamonix) offering multiple distances and a week-long festival of running, culture, and mountain discovery — the closest analog to VVX in terms of trail distances, festival format, and sport + culture blend, but at much larger scale and international reach.
• Marathon des Sables: Legendary multi-stage ultra-endurance event in the Sahara offering a multi-day festival of running and cultural immersion in an extreme landscape. Comparable in multi-day format, cultural discovery element, and ultra-distance portfolio (VVX's 220km XGTV sits in a similar ambition tier).
• Transylvania Ultra Trail: Multi-distance trail running event in the Romanian Carpathians pairing competitive racing with regional cultural and gastronomic experiences — highly comparable to VVX's sport + culture + gastronomy positioning on distinctive natural terrain.
• Lavaredo Ultra Trail (by UTMB): Iconic Italian ultra-trail event in the Dolomites offering 120km, 80km and shorter distances set against dramatic mountain scenery. Comparable as a single-region European ultra-trail event leveraging distinctive natural landscape for differentiation.
• Festival des Templiers: Historic French trail running festival held annually in Millau, Aveyron, combining multiple race distances with cultural and community programming. Directly comparable as a multi-distance French trail festival pairing sport with regional cultural heritage.

Broad incumbents

• Ironman (The IRONMAN Group): Global mass-participation endurance event organizer (now owning UTMB World Series) producing triathlons, marathons, and ultra-trails. Comparable as a broader endurance event platform and as VVX's competitive benchmark for scale and sponsor attractiveness in the same participant market.

Regional players

• Diagonale des Fous (Grand Raid Réunion): Major French overseas ultra-trail event on Réunion Island offering multiple distances including a flagship 165km. Comparable as a French-speaking ultra-trail event with a multi-distance, festival-style format, but in a distinct geography.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@volvicvolcanicexperience
• Facebookfacebook.com/volvicvvx
• Instagraminstagram.com/volvic_vvx
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/volvic-volcanic-exp%C3%A9rience-vvx

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Volvic Volcanic Expérience (VVX)