Montreux Jazz Festival

About Event

The date of the event is unique for each year. In 2021, the date is July 2.

Montreux Jazz Festival is one of the most famous jazz festivals in Switzerland and one of the most prestigious music events in the world. It traces its history back to 1967, takes place every year and lasts just over two weeks. Usually the festival starts at the end of June – beginning of July.

The founder and permanent head (until 2013) of the Montreux Jazz Festival is Claude Nobs. It was he, a jazz lover, who thought of how to attract more tourists to a quiet and peaceful town at the foot of the Alps. Thus a three-day jazz festival was born in 1967 with performances by Charles Lloyd and Keith Jarrett as well as several other European jazz bands.

In its first years the festival became world famous, making Montreux famous all over the world. Every year the format of this musical event was changing: the terms of the festival became longer and longer, the line-up of participants became more diverse, and the festival itself turned from a modest celebration into one of the loudest and most prestigious musical events in Europe. After all, Nobs turned it into a gathering place for jazz lovers from around the world. He first brought Aretha Franklin to Europe, Ray Charles, Miles Davis, David Bowie, Quincy Jones and other stars have performed at this festival.

Today, the Montreux Jazz Festival is attended not only by the world’s jazz stars and aspiring musicians, but also by the formerly fashionable and “classic” now rock musicians. Frequent visitors to the festival include Bob Dylan, Sting and Eric Clapton. The festival program expands each year and becomes more diverse, thanks to the appearance of new interesting musical numbers.

Although jazz has historically been the mainstay of the festival, other musical styles and trends quickly found their way into the festivities. Rock music, blues, soul, hip-hop, pop, techno, reggae and African jazz are all performed here.

More than 200 thousand people come to Montreux to visit the Festival and the accompanying events that take place within its framework.

The main festival site is located in the Stravinski Auditorium complex, where the main festival concerts take place every evening in two halls, named after famous musicians of the past – Stravinski Hall and Miles Davis Hall. It’s where the stars of the first magnitude perform. Musicians say the acoustics in the halls are excellent.

In addition to the main program, there are a huge number of concerts by novice musicians in the open areas of the city. Visitors from all over the world enjoy these open-air concerts and the guitar and pianist competitions that take place all over town. Budding musicians play everywhere: in the streets and parks, on steamboats on Lake Geneva and on the “music trains.

The phenomenon of the Montreux festival, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, is its special atmosphere of celebration. During the festival the whole city literally becomes one huge stage and lives to the rhythm of the music. In addition, the public is entertained with seminars, workshops, films, nightclub shows with top-of-the-line DJs and beach parties.

Those who want to not only listen to music, but also participate in the action, can demonstrate their ability to dance samba or salsa on special platforms. All kinds of restaurants, cafes, arcade, boutiques are open along the promenade of Montreux.

By the way, neither euros, dollars nor francs are valid here. For the duration of the festival there is only one currency – “jazz”, a copper coin with a hole in it. The author of this invention is also Claude Nobes. Vendors trading on the “jazzes” get a good tax discount – so the state supports the festival.

Even the city of Montreux itself is filled with the spirit of music. It is here that monuments to Freddie Mercury, Miles Davis, and B.B. King stand.

For many years the Montreux Jazz Festival has been one of the most original and innovative on the international scene and is a big event in the music world. Many jazz stars have lit up here, and today it remains a launching pad for aspiring musicians.