The Montreux Jazz Festival is a two-week event held in July in Montreux, Switzerland, on Lake Geneva in a region known as the "Swiss Riviera." The Montreux Jazz Festival Foundation has organized the festival every year since Claude Nobs founded it in 1967. Approximately 87,000 tickets were sold for the 2008 festival. Notable past performers include jazz artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Kenny Burrell, Roberta Flack, Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie, as well as pop, rock and blues artists like Deep Purple, Johnny Cash and Dave Matthews Band. The festival offers group and VIP corporate ticket packages. Twenty-five food stalls line the lake, offering festivalgoers an eclectic mix of Asian, seafood, Italian and Swiss specialties. The Montreux Jazz Foundation 2 organizes workshops, competitions and exhibitions for festivalgoers.
Montreux Jazz Festival Foundation
Sentier de Collonge 3
CP 126
CH - 1820 Montreux
Switzerland
+41-21-966-44-44
montreuxjazz.com/2010
The Lucerne Festival is a series of classical music festivals held near Lake Lucerne in Lucerne, Switzerland. These include the Lucerne Festival at Easter, Lucerne Festival in Summer and Lucerne Festival at the Piano in November. The summer festival is the oldest, the Easter festival emphasizes sacred music, and the November festival consists solely of piano music. The first Lucerne Festival, a 10-concert event, was held on August 25, 1948, and featured Arturo Toscanini. Since its inception, the festival has grown to include orchestras and soloists from around the world. Approximately 120,000 people attend the Lucerne Festival every year. Organizers place "a high priority on integrating the music of contemporary composers into the programming and on celebrating the creative energy of young artists, as well as on the fruits of artistic exchange." The Lucerne Festival Orchestra, founded in 2003, features soloists, chamber musicians and music professors in an "elite orchestra," according to the festival's website.
Lucerne Festival
Hirschmattstrasse 13
P.O. Box
CH-6002 Luzern
Switzerland
+41-041-226-44-00
lucernefestival.ch
The Paleo Festival is a six-day event held in Nyon, Switzerland. Established in 1976, the festival draws approximately 230,000 people. According to its website, the festival is "easily the biggest open-air festival in Switzerland and one of Europe's major musical events." It features 176 concerts on six stages. The Dome Stage is devoted each year to music from a specific world region, while the Club Tent features up-and-coming music talent. Past performers at the festival include Jack Treese, Beck, De La Soul, The Who, Travis and Oasis. An environmentally friendly festival, Yourope, the European Society of Festivals, awarded Paleo the Green'n'Clean Award in 2007. The Paleo Festival offers hungry festivalgoers 100 food stalls, featuring cuisine from around the world. Teenagers can hang out in "The Beach," while parents can bring their children to the play area known as Mielimelo.
Paleo Festival Nyon
Rte de St-Cergue 312
PO Box 1320
CH - 1260 Nyon 1
Switzerland
+41-022-365-10-10
paleo.ch