Gurten Gets Used To Dizzy Heights

It’s been a few years since Gurten chief Philippe Cornu was worried about crowd sizes, as the festival with a bird’s-eye view of the Swiss capital can regularly put 70,000-plus “on the hill.”

This year it was 72,000 and the lineup suggests that one of Europe’s smaller festivals has developed a reputation for being bigger than its size alone.

Arctic Monkeys, Jamiroquai, Kaiser Chiefs, Underworld, and Pendulum were among the acts playing there July 14-17 – when they could arguably have played bigger European festivals.

Cornu said he’s very happy about this year’s edition because once again it showed there’s more to Gurten than “just a party and beer.”

“As long as there are bands like The National on this planet I shall continue to be promoter,” he told Pollstar, emphasising Gurten’s music-first focus.

Other acts helping Gurten reach dizzy heights on the hills overlooking Bern included Kasabian, Brandon Flowers, Beatsteaks, Beady Eye, Kate Nash and Jamie Cullum.