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April 8, 2026Life & Culture / What Went DownLife & Culture / What Went Downevian’s birthday party was straight out of a Wes Anderson movie

The French water brand marked its 200th anniversary with pastel visuals, factory tours and a surreal sense of spectacle

ShareLink copied ✔️April 8, 2026April 8, 2026TextAlice Wade

In 2009, evian released an ad featuring an army of roller-blading babies pirouetting, leaping and spinning, all happy, energetic and a bit mad. The campaign refreshed the company and holds the Guinness World Record for the most viral ad of all time. A philosophy took shape: “Live Young, not by counting years, but by filling them with life.” For the brand’s 200th anniversary, guests gathered from across the world at the source in Évian-les-Bains to celebrate this spirit of youthfulness, flowing forward.

The three-day celebration began at Evian Resort’s Hôtel Royal, a five-star oasis overlooking Lake Geneva. The hotel sits tall. The views are vast. At breakfast, you can see small boats cutting across the blue water. During the day, the lake and the sky blur together. By night, the snow-capped Alps glow pink on the horizon.

The interior is as impressive as the views. The ceilings are decorated with Art Nouveau frescoes by Gustave Jaulmes. Huge chandeliers illuminate the rooms. Guests dine next to a tree towering in the middle of the Michelin-starred restaurant, Les Fresques.

Hotel RoyalCourtest Edouard Guibaud

From the resort, we are whisked off to the evian factory to discover more about the brand’s heritage. A lovely Frenchman guides us from room to room, explaining how every drop of evian mineral water begins as rain falling in the French Alps. It trickles through the rock until it emerges at the Source Cachat in Évian-les-Bains. Nothing is added or taken away. We plug our ears with pink rubber and march across the factory floor where bottles are labelled, scooped and wrapped. It’s hypnotic, reminiscent of the pink boxes in The Grand Budapest Hotel.

All the plastic bottles are made from recycled PET and nearly 100 per cent of the factory’s waste gets a second life. The maintenance team are known as the fountain keepers. The people are the brand. At the core of the company’s ethos is a strong commitment to the local community. Three generations work alongside each other.

The tour concludes at the museum. We see how evian water was bottled in jugs in the 1890s, then in glass, PVC and PET, and now cans. Iconic vintage posters line the walls. I sip a glass of bright blue fizz and watch the babies on their rollerblades. Onwards! We’re guided down the mountain to the Source Cachat in an evian-pink funicular. In the 19th century, the springs’ reputation for delivering health benefits, especially for kidney and bladder ailments, helped transform Évian from a small village into a popular spa town. Visitors came flocking to the spa village from all across Europe. I refill my bottle multiple times to soothe my various ailments. Particularly after the champagne from last night.

Evian

Back at the hotel, there’s plenty to keep us fizzy and busy. If you can make it through the spectacular 18-hole golf courses, without getting lost in the views, you can soak in the sauna. And then drift into the hamman before the outdoor hydro jets bring you bubbling back to life. From there, it’s on to tennis or padel. You might spot a hedgehog coming out of one of the special holes created by the environmentally committed groundstaff.

evian has long collaborated with designers to turn its glass bottles into collectable objects. Pharrell stamped the bottle with ‘This is the fountain of youth’. Virgil Abloh’s bottle has a hammered texture to express the personality of the recycled materials it uses. This year, Jeff Koons became the first contemporary artist to recreate the bottle. Koons’ two versions come with pink and blue tops and legends, a double helix motif that recalls evian’s connection with the watery source of life, and balloon dogs cavorting around the base. They are joyful and unexpected. Another tasty brand refresh.

On the final night, the hotel’s ground floor is transformed into a pink palace. We eat mini baguettes, lobster towers, and bresse chicken. All washed down with Evian and champagne. Carlos Alcaraz dials in from a practice session in Spain, promising to play at the golf championship. Jeff speaks to us about his passionate affinity with the brand. The waiters come round with strawberries arranged to resemble the mountains of evian and a mountainous cake, volcanic with pink fondant. Sparkling, not still, we bounce off to the lounge for a decadent nightcap, feeling light, happy and younger.

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