Vidy-Lausanne Launches Tempo Forte Festival Celebrating Performing Arts Between Fields and Lake

Vidy-Lausanne has launched Tempo Forte, a new performing arts festival designed to bring contemporary theatre, dance, and video art to audiences across two spring weekends by Lake Geneva.

The festival runs from April 23 to May 3, 2026, and features six productions supported or produced by Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne, with a total of 35 performances scheduled across indoor and outdoor venues.

Among the featured works is “Thésée, sa vie nouvelle” by Valérie Dréville and Guy Cassiers, a reimagining of the myth of Theseus that explores memory, history, and identity through a contemporary lens.

Another highlight is “Shout Twice” by Mélissa Guex and Katerina Andreou, a dance-theatre piece that investigates rhythm, repetition, and the body’s response to sound and silence.

The program also includes “Meat me in Paradise,” a collaborative creation by Massimo Furlan, Claire de Ribaupierre, Vinciane Despret, and Pierre-Olivier Dittmar, which blends theatre, philosophy, and animal studies to question human relationships with nature and the non-living world.

Outdoor performances are a key component of the festival, with “Ultraficción nr.1/Fracciones de tiempo” by the Spanish collective El Conde de Torrefiel presented as a Swiss premiere on a hillside facing trees at the Vidy site.

“Alouettes – Pièce de champ” by Emilie Rousset and Caroline Barneaud will take place at the Blécherette farm, extending the festival’s reach into rural landscapes surrounding Lausanne.

The festival’s title, Tempo Forte — a musical term indicating a strong beat — reflects its intent to create a resonant, immersive experience where audiences can attend multiple performances in a single day through adjusted scheduling.

A special pass offering three admissions will be available to encourage audiences to engage with several works over the course of a weekend.

According to Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne, the initiative aims to strengthen ties with local and regional audiences while facilitating access for Swiss and international professionals in the performing arts.

By situating performances both within the theatre and in open-air settings near the lake and farms, Tempo Forte seeks to explore the interplay between artistic expression and the natural environment.

The festival positions itself as a “festival at the heart of the season,” emphasizing its role in bridging programming gaps and offering concentrated access to new and recent works.

Through its combination of indoor and outdoor staging, interdisciplinary collaborations, and accessible formats, Tempo Forte represents an effort to make contemporary performing arts more visible, participatory, and rooted in place.