Dazed reviews this year’s edition of the music festival which saw performances and DJ sets from the likes of Becky Hill and Horse Meat Disco
It’s 11pm, about minus three degrees, and I’m halfway up a snow-covered mountain. Becky Hill is belting out her dance-pop banger “Lose Control” and despite standing on treacherously slippy ground, thousands of people around me are losing it, jumping up and down euphorically. Several bangers (and jokes) later, Hill leaves the stage to tumultuous applause and Andy C takes over and continues the party with his trademark drum‘n’bass.
This night concluded the seven-day, all-raving, all-raging music festival Snowboxx, during which 6,000 skiers, snowboarders and partiers descended on the French mountain resort of Avoriaz, sending dance music pulsing through the normally serene surrounds.
I wasn’t sure what to expect of Snowboxx but it basically takes aprés ski – the time spent letting off steam after a good day on the slopes – to the nth degree, throwing world-class acts into the mix, continuing late into the night, across multiple venues. As you might imagine, it’s extremely fun. In addition to Becky Hill and Andy C, Snowboxx 2022 featured the likes of DJ royalty Annie Mac and legendary dance act Faithless, and countless more acts besides.
Notably Horse Meat Disco made an appearance, bringing a touch of Britain’s queer party scene and their unique brand of “Sunday night London bacchanalia” to the slopes – something that was the unexpectedly perfect accompaniment to a post-ski drink.
Avoriaz is the ideal location for an event like this – built actually in the mountains as opposed to in the valley below, you can ski directly from the piste to the party, and then back to your hotel, without faffing about in a cable car like you have to at other resorts. Which, needless to say, is good if you’re drinking.
The skiing itself is amazing – the resort is full of slopes that are fit for beginner, intermediate, advanced and hungover skiers alike. And the snow was perfect, too, despite it being so late in the season – the warm weather actually meant that you could ski in a t-shirt and light jacket, which was a novelty for me.
We were also treated to a session of ski joering or horse-drawn skiing, which involves being pulled along by a horse through the forest, kind of like you’re a chariot racer in Ben-Hur, though a bit slower. I’d thoroughly recommend it.
Find out more about Snowboxx on the festival’s official website