Bright Start From Festi’neuch

Neuchatel Openair Festival marked the opening of the Swiss festival season by pulling around 9,000 per day to the city’s National Expo site May 31 to June 3.

Cyrill Villemin from the festival organising team says he’s happy with the figures, even though they were about 250 per day down on last year.

He said the difficulty with Festi’neuch, as the festival’s more commonly known, is striking the balance between the high-budget headliners and a good supporting cast throughout the bill.

“Sometimes when we have booked the big headliners, the crowd have been more impressed with some of the lesser-known acts,” he explained.

This year’s Festi’neuch bill included Marilyn Manson, Alpha Blondy, Amadou & Mariam, Morcheeba, and Sophie Hunger.
Festi’neuch’s bright start may be the beginning of a decent Swiss festival season, as the 30,000-capacity Openair St Gallen has sold out a month in advance.

That’s the fastest sellout the 36-year-old event has managed since it also sold out with a month to go in 1996.

The acts on the Openair St Gallen bill June 28 to July 1 include Die Toten Hosen, Incubus, Mumford & Sons, Deadmau5, Paolo Nutini, Florence & The Machine, and The Kooks.