Le Port Franc.
Different sounds. Shared encounters.
Sylvain Pannatier on Sion’s electronic nights, Valais collectives and bringing different audiences together.
Sylvain Pannatier · Le Port Franc
At Le Port Franc, a techno night takes place in a venue designed first and foremost for concerts. That starting point matters: it shapes collaborations with local collectives, technical conditions and the way audiences are invited beyond familiar territory. Sylvain Pannatier talks about that diversity, communication work and the twenty-four hours of music that marked the venue’s tenth anniversary.
Le Port Franc is a concert and contemporary music venue in Sion, Valais. Its electronic nights are developed notably in coproduction with local collectives. Sylvain Pannatier answered our questions on 5 November 2026.
From one musical world to another
At Le Port Franc, electronic nights sit alongside very different concerts. What would you like the audience to discover by moving between those musical worlds?
Le Port Franc is primarily a venue designed, in its structure and facilities, as a concert hall for live music. When we organise techno nights, it’s generally in coproduction with local collectives. It’s wonderful to see several Valais collectives working to bring the music they love to the fore.
In terms of the different musical worlds offered at Le Port Franc, we try to reach as wide a range of musical tastes among the Valais public as possible, from pop to rap, rock, metal and, of course, techno coproductions. Offering contemporary music for all tastes is also part of our mandate with the city of Sion.
We also want the public to come and discover artists or musical styles they may not already know, and I think our programmer Marie Corminboeuf puts together an incredible selection for that! Music is always experienced differently live than on an album; the emotions are almost physical when a wall of sound carries us away.
Building a night together
When a local team proposes a night, what do they most need to turn their idea into reality at Le Port Franc?
When a collective comes to us with a proposal for a coproduction, our programmer and administrator explain the conditions specific to Le Port Franc — conditions that may be imposed by the city, canton, police or the venue’s committee.
They range from applying to the police for permission to hold the night to installing decorations or additional sound equipment. They are also connected to the fact that we are primarily a venue designed for live music.
What these collectives need is to arrive with some idea of what organising a large event involves, even though we are also there to support teams taking their first steps in the field.
The emotions are almost physical when a wall of sound carries us away.
Venues and collectives
What gives Sion’s electronic nights their own character today?
I would say the number and diversity of collectives are a real strength for electronic music, in Sion, certainly, but also across Valais. The opening of Heat a few years ago also created new possibilities for collectives, with a venue specifically designed for electronic nights.
It’s a great opportunity to have different cultural venues for contemporary music in the same city. It’s also a positive development after years without a contemporary music venue or nightclub following the closure of the much-missed Diam’s in Vissigen.
The demolition of the building that housed that old-school nightclub gave me a pang of sadness — for the memories, of course, but also because it had a distinctive architecture, close to the MiMo (Miami Modern) movement of the 1960s.
Inviting discovery
In your communication work, how do you encourage people to discover a night whose artists are still unfamiliar to them?
It isn’t easy to persuade people to discover artists they don’t know yet. We’ve had several cases of artists we were able to host who didn’t fill the venue when they came, such as Vald in 2017, and whom we could no longer host today because they’ve become so big on the music scene.
My communication includes a colourful, highly illustrated and aesthetically considered visual identity, thanks to graphic designer Mathilde Veuthey, to catch the eye and create a visual atmosphere. As we’re a concert venue, sound matters a great deal: every social media post is accompanied by a track from the artist or group we’re hosting.
Where possible, I also make radio promotional spots with recognisable music by the artist or group in the background. Radio competitions to win tickets are also often preceded or followed by one of their tracks, which may make people want to discover them live.
The harder message to get across is that the public can trust professionals whose job it is to champion emerging artists — that our programmer’s ear is a mark of quality when we present artists whose names aren’t yet at the top of the bill at major festivals.
Twenty-four hours of sharing
What moment at Le Port Franc made you feel the venue had created a real connection between people who didn’t know each other?
Le Port Franc’s tenth anniversary in May 2025 was a particularly strong moment of connection between audiences and musical styles. We put on twenty-four hours of music with around twenty groups, artists and DJs based in Valais. There was psychedelic rock, rap, pop, DJ sets all night, classical music in the morning, then a return to rock and a reggae DJ set to finish.
The event really succeeded in bringing a lot of people together: some came for a particular group and discovered new ones, while others were there to celebrate across the different musical styles.
It’s an event I’m very proud of, carried forward with great commitment by our small team and enjoyed by the media and public alike. A real success for us, and a genuine moment of sharing for the audience and artists.
Le Port Franc
Interview by email · Editorial and image art direction: SCENE:ID. Yves Bochatay · Estelle Crettenand · Giuseppe Aufiero