Montreux Jazz Festival

The Montreux Jazz Festival is held on the shore of Lake Geneva every summer, usually from early July, and runs for about two weeks. Claude Nobs, a local tourism official, founded it in 1967, and over the following decades it grew from a small jazz weekend into one of the best-known music festivals in Europe. The programme is no longer limited to jazz: rock, pop, soul, blues, funk, hip-hop and electronic acts all appear, and the line-ups have included names such as Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin, David Bowie and Prince.

The festival has a place in rock history as well. In December 1971, during a Frank Zappa concert at the old Montreux Casino, a fire broke out, and Deep Purple, who had come to record in the town, wrote "Smoke on the Water" about it. The song’s opening line mentions the Swiss lake and the Montreux setting, and the festival has held onto that story ever since. The tribute to Freddie Mercury, whose band recorded in Montreux for years, is another local landmark: a bronze statue of the singer stands on the lakefront and draws fans year-round.

The paid concerts take place in the large indoor halls, with the Stravinski Auditorium in the Congress Centre the main stage. Alongside them runs a large free programme, with open-air stages, smaller club-style rooms and street performance spread around the lakeside. That mix is what makes the festival easy to dip into: you can come without a ticket, walk the waterfront, and still hear live music in the evening, with the Swiss Riviera sweep of the lake, the Alps in the background and food stalls and bars set up along the quay. Headline shows can sell out well ahead, so if there is a specific act you want, book early through the official channels rather than relying on last-minute availability.

Beyond the stages, the festival has built a large archive of recordings made over the years, much of it preserved as a cultural heritage collection, and it is a reminder that Montreux’s identity is tied to music as much as to its lakeside setting. The town itself is compact, so the festival fits naturally with the Lake Geneva Promenade, the nearby vineyards and a visit to Château de Chillon.

The festival suits music fans of all stripes, couples and groups looking for a lively summer trip, and families who want an easy evening out by the water. Expect crowds, higher hotel demand and busy trains in July, and plan accommodation early.