For nearly twenty years, the Altitude Jazz Festival has been one of the major cultural events of the winter season in the Alps. Briançonnais. From 15 to 24 January 2026, the 19ᵉ edition promises once again to make jazz resonate in all its forms, from the great halls to the most unexpected venues.
For ten days, the festival will be rolling out a dense, open programme, true to its DNA: lively, curious, accessible jazz that moves freely between styles, generations and spaces.
Bars, theatres, thermal baths, mountain restaurants, ski slopes and Vauban fortifications all become ephemeral stages for artists and audiences alike.
A festival spread across the country
In all, more than 40 concerts, 25 venues, 150 musicians and ten days of music make up this 2026 edition.
The organisers of the association Les Décâblés - Bruit Blanc Musiques Actuelles are deliberately eclectic in their programming, reflecting a jazz scene that is constantly reinventing itself, both nationally and internationally.
Five major evenings structure the festival's highlights. The festival opens on Thursday 15 January in Briançon, in an exceptional setting, with Yom & Ceccaldi at the Collégiale Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Nicolas.
On 23 January, it's off to Le Monêtier-les-Bains for a big night at the Salle du Dôme with Radio Tutti and Le Mange Bal. The programme closes on 24 January in Briançon, at the Théâtre du Briançonnais, with a packed evening featuring PawPaw, Guillaume Perret, Cabaret Contemporain and Babu Gartez.
The Théâtre du Briançonnais will also be hosting four evening events Jazz Clubs on 19, 20, 21 and 22 January, while some concerts will take place in more unexpected venues: the Grands Bains du Monêtier with the Deeplodocus trio on 23 January, or the high-altitude restaurant L'Échaillon, on the slopes of Serre Chevalier, at lunchtime on 24 January.
Jazz, transmission and young audiences
As well as concerts, the Altitude Jazz Festival has a real educational and intergenerational dimension. Masterclasses and workshops will give the public the chance to learn how to sing, write or play music.
There's also a dedicated programme for families and youngsters, including Sound Garden, A musical initiation course on 18 January, Little Frankenstein on 19 January, and Nightclub on 21 January, all scheduled to take place in Briançon.
It's a way of anchoring the festival firmly in local life and instilling a taste for music from an early age.
This is one of the great novelties of this 19ᵉ edition. For the first time, the opening night will be held in the Collégiale Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Nicolas in Briançon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
On 15 January, the public can discover this monument in a whole new way, with unusual tours of the roof structure, the galleries and the restored organ, before the evening concert.