Montreux Jazz Festival - An Event For Every Possible Music Genre

The 2008 Montreux Jazz Festival ran from July 4 to 19. This was the 42nd annual event since it's inception in 1967. We've all heard it talked about, but what is it really about?

This music festival was founded in 1967 by Claude Nobs, Geo Voumard and Rene Langel. These three men shared a passion for jazz music. The first festival in 1967 was held at the Montreux Casino and lasted for three days.

After 42 years of organizing and keeping the festival alive, Claude Nobs is still the main coordinator. Mr. Nobs is now 72 years old.

Montreux Switzerland is the home of this massive musical menagerie. Nestled between the Swiss Alps and Beautiful Lake Geneva, Montreux is the perfect locale for an event of this magnitude.

Originally intended to present only jazz, the festival expanded it's horizons in the 1970's and attracted fans and artists alike from every possible musical genre. Although jazz remains an integral part of the festival, it is now actually a world music festival. These typically last two weeks and bring in excess of 200,000 people.

The expanded artistic base can be seen in the fact that rock band Deep Purple wrote their famous song "Smoke on the Water" about the massive fire (during a performance by Frank Zappa) that claimed the Montreux Casino in 1971. It would be 4 years until the Casino was rebuilt.

The Montreux Jazz Festival is held every year in the first two weeks of July. The venue has always been in the Montreux Casino until 1995 when it grew so large, it was forced to move to a larger venue, the Convention Centre.

Actually the festival was housed in both venues until 2008 when the casino was again selected as the main venue.

The Convention Centre presents the "backup" talent while the Casino offers the main acts and headliners. The Convention Centre actually houses two main stages; the Auditorium Stravinsky and Miles Davis Hall. You can see the venues of the Montreux Jazz Festival here.

There is also the much smaller Montreux Café and several open-air micro stages, too. Additionally, the Montreux boats carry thematic shows that you'll enjoy.

Even though music is the main attraction, there are numerous other things that are interesting to do at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Workshops are offered in different areas of music as well as competitions in solo voice, piano and guitar. There is also a jazz band competition called the Tremplin Lemanique for bands around the Leman Lake region.

You can see your favorite band or watch world class guitar players battle it out riff for riff. Attend workshops in music appreciation and/or technique. This is what makes the festival so special. It crosses the boundaries of race, religion and heritage.

The Montreux Jazz Festival is the place to visit for the avid music fan. Everything from jazz to rock to heavy metal and blues is available to you there. No matter what your musical preference, it will be represented here.

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