Basel’s Celebratory Cigar

The organisers of the last series of sessions sponsored by cigar-maker Avo may deserve a celebratory puff as it could turn out to be one of the most successful.

Series producer Matthias Müller says 98 percent of the tickets for 12 shows in 1,550-capacity Basel Musical Theater were sold before the programme opened.

 
Avo Session has moved to the theatre while the city builds a new civic venue to replace the one where Avo has traditionally been held.
 
The opening evening had Dionne Warwick, who collected this year’s festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
 
Subsequent shows included Herbie Hancock  Melody Gardot, The Steve Miller Band, Mavis Staples, Nick Lowe, Katie Melua and Rod Stewart.
 
Next year, Swiss insurance and investment company Bâloise will take over the sponsorship of the sessions, following the 15 years that it’s been funded by Oettinger Davidoff, which produces Avo cigars and a range of cigarettes and pipe tobaccos.
 
The final Avo Session began Oct. 26 and runs to Nov. 15. Next year the first re-branded Baloise Session will be Oct. 25 to Nov. 14.
 
The new partnership will launch a new series of national concerts called Bâloise On Tour, which will see a number of smaller satellite festivals springing up all over Switzerland.