Biarritz Piano Festival 2026

Music · Piano · Festival

For twelve days the piano takes over the town, and nobody complains. From 27 July to 7 August, the finest keyboards of the moment take turns at the Casino Municipal and the Espace Bellevue. With a side door for those in the know: the open-air concerts, free of charge.

The Biarritz Piano Festival has one rare quality: it does not feel like a classical music festival. No compulsory tie, no vetted audience, no intimidating hush. You find regulars who have been coming for twenty years alongside people who wandered in one July evening without quite knowing who was playing.

A line-up that does not hide behind its name

Katia and Marielle Labèque raise the curtain on 27 July at the Espace Bellevue, marking fifty-five years of four-hand playing somewhere between Ravel and Nina Simone. David Fray follows on the 29th with Bach, Rameau and Scarlatti. Clément Lefebvre comes next on the 30th, devoted entirely to Scriabin.

The secret the regulars keep to themselves

Not everything happens indoors. Alongside the main concerts, the festival sets its keyboards outdoors facing the Côte des Basques for the Pianos & Sunset sessions. A piano, the ocean handling the second half, the sky turning pink. Yes, it is a postcard. No, we are not going to apologise.

The best option is not necessarily the most expensive one.

The local tip

Some seats start at €10, and the open-air concerts are free. If you only go once all summer, choose a Pianos & Sunset over an indoor evening: it costs nothing, it is outside, and it is probably the finest moment of the season.

The editorial team
ici Biarritz