Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland

July is big in the Swiss calendar, not just for those beautiful summer days, floating down the River Rhine with your clothes/belongings in a water-proof bag (they actually do that here), or marathon-long hikes in the mountains. Oh no. It's jazz festival time. Yup. You heard right. Montreux Jazz Festival is one of the most famous in the world along with Canada's Montreal one, so if you're into your jazz and you like your nice surroundings, Montreux is the place to be.

To be honest, I have never really listened to much jazz but we decided to get involved last year, purely to absorb the atmosphtere and see what it was all about. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, bar the stereotypical cliché of a smoke-filled dimly lit room, and an old dude singing about his pain and strife while strumming an archaic guitar (though I definitely mistook jazz for blues in this respect!). Safe to say, I'm obviously no jazz connoisseur, but I was excited as soon as we arrived.

You might wonder why this bronze beauty of a Freddie Mercury statue exists in Montreux, but it was apparently a spiritual home to him, and he settled here because of its serenity, famously saying "If you want peace of mind, come to Montreux". Lovely little saying, and it's a lovely littlebig 3-metre statue that really captures his presence and makes you feel as if you are somewhere special! It's a homage to all fans and touching to see that people still leave flowers in memory of him. This plaque explains the statue's significance in a little more detail...

Oddly but interestingly, there were quite a few artistic installations dotted around the place when we visited. I'm not sure if this was especially for the festival or not, but they weren't related to music or jazz as far as I could tell, so it could have been a separate thing altogether. Nonetheless, they made you look twice! Not so keen on this giant spider though...

Couple of even stranger ones here...


So much flower porn right now! Their gardening skills are truly amazing, and I have to say Switzerland in general love their flowers, but I'm definitely not complaining. They're such a good mood enhancer and make the world such a prettier place to wander! 

We were really looking forward to this late-night freestyle jazz session, which was penned in to start after the main evening stage shows had finished. After an evening of great fun, which ended with a reggae band called Booost (amazing!), we bagged a great seat as you can see, but it was unfortunately cancelled shortly afterwards, hence the empty stage. Disappointed wasn't the word...

Here's a few pictures of the surroundings so you can get an idea of how beautiful the place is...the beauty of the festival is the fact entry is free (apart from some selected shows featuring major artists), so you can wander in and around the various shows/sections of the festival as you please...perfect if you're new to jazz and just want to wander around for the weekend taking in the atmosphere!

Jamie Cullum back in the day I believe...

The streets are bustling with people all day long and lined with food stalls to keep you full of beans! 

The line-up for this year's festival (4-19 July) is pretty varied, as ever, but so good (Pharell, Ed Sheeran, Outkast, Paloma Faith, Robin Thicke, Stevie Wonder, and MK [one of my faaaave house DJs] to name a few of the ones I've heard of - yes, yes, I appreciate these aren't jazz artists but I did say I was no connoisseur)!

Have I tempted you to visit Montreux if you haven't already? Ever tried a jazz festival? I'd love to hear what you think!

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