Swiss On A Roll

At least Swiss outdoor promoters appear to be enjoying the so-called summer as Gurten Festival sold out three of its four days, pulling 76,000 people in the process.

“All this without rain would have been paradise on Earth,” said Gurten promoter Philippe Cornu, whose festival is on a mountainside overlooking Bern.

This year the festival sold out its 20,000-capacity for the main three days for the third successive year.

The first day, which doesn’t have as full a programme as the others and is something of a warm-up, did 16,000 – 4,000 more than last year.

Gurten’s success follows on from the impressive results achieved by other Swiss festivals, particularly Greenfield, Open Air St. Gallen, and Frauenfeld.

The acts on this year’s Gurten lineup July 12-15 included Lenny Kravitz, Norah Jones, Snow Patrol, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, The Roots and Plan B.