Festivals: The Montreux Jazz Festival

The Montreux Jazz Festival is the best-known music festival in Switzerland and one of the most prestigious in Europe; it is held annually in early July in Montreux on the shores of Lake Geneva. It is the second largest annual music festival in the world after Canada's Montreal International Jazz Festival. ~wikipedia

Founded by Claude Nobs in 1967, over the years the Montreux Jazz Festival has become an unmissable event for music fans in Switzerland and around the world. Its stages have been graced by all of music’s greats, from Miles Davis to Ray Charles and from David Bowie to Prince. Whereas Jazz constitutes the Festival’s historic core, other styles of music were quickly integrated into the Festival, bound together by a common thread of mutual curiosity and enthusiasm. Having made its reputation with its ambitious programming choices, the Montreux Jazz Festival offers musicians an ideal platform and an intimate setting for the duration of its two weeks. ~www.montreuxjazzfestival.com

Facts and Figures

• 16 days
• 12 venues, 10 are free
• Open 18 hours a day
• Over 1000 musicians
• More than 1000 hours of music
• 230'000 visitors
• 1400 staffs
• 450 journalists
• 4'000 places in the Auditorium Stravinski 
• 2500 places in the Miles Davis Hall 
• Music in movement with Montreux Jazz Trains and Boats
• 3 World Famous Competition
• 2 Night Clubs (Montreux Jazz Café & Studio 41)
• Workshops, film screenings, exhibitions, special projects

The Montreux Jazz Festival is a member of: Top Events of Switzerland, Swiss Music Promoters Association, Yourope The European Festival Association, International Jazz Festivals Organisation, Member of European Talent Exchange Program.