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No Positive Cases At 16-Day Montreux Jazz Festival Switzerland
Emilien Itim – Montreux Jazz Festival 2021 welcomed 40,000 guests, who were able to provide proof of their negative coronavirus status.
All concerts, including this one by Ibrahim Maalouf, were seated, including the ones at the brand new Scène du Lac stage built right on the shores of Lake Geneva.
Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland closed its 55th edition, July 2-17, with 40,000 attendees and zero positive coronavirus cases recorded throughout the event.
After being forced to cancel for the first time in history in 2020, this year marked a “triumphant return” and “a poignant, powerful moment for Europe’s recovering live music sector, according to a promoter statement.
The festival’s international program spanned multiple stages, including the new Scène du Lac built on Lake Geneva. The lineup included the “father of Italian blues” Zucchero, who performed several times, Woodkid, Afra Kane & Valentina Kaufman, American composer Fred Hersch, Raul Midón, Ibrahim Maalouf, Oscar Anton, Nathy Peluso, Sam Fischer, Altin Gün, Malian singer songwriter Fatoumata Diawara with her unique blend of Wassoulou folk, funk, pop, and reggae, and more.
Many of the concerts were livestreamed.
The heavily reduced capacity mandated by the authorities meant that only 40,000 instead of the usual 250,000 guests were allowed on site. Guests on site had to show their coronavirus certificate, which, in Switzerland, is issued upon request to those, who are either fully vaccinated or have been previously infected or are able to present a negative PCR test carried out within 72 hours or a negative rapid antigen test carried out
within 48 hours (excluding self-tests and serological tests).
An on-site testing centre processed “thousands of antigenic tests with no recorded positive Covid-19 results,” according to the statement.
FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images – Scene from the 51st Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, July 2, 2017.
US producer Quincy Jones stands next to Montreux Jazz Festival director Mathieu Jaton.
About the festival:
Montreux Jazz Festival is a renowned music festival created by Claude Nobs and held annually in Montreux, Switzerland across two weeks in July. Now in its 55th year, the festival usually draws some 250,000 music lovers from all across the world to the Lake Geneva shoreline.
Montreux Jazz Festival celebrates the industry’s emerging and contemporary acts, whilst paying homage to music’s legendary acts. Originally a pure jazz festival since inception in 1967, Montreux began showcasing other styles of music throughout the decades and today presents artists from across every genre imaginable.
Artists that have graced the stage of Montreux include Etta James, Bob Dylan, Elton John, Ms Lauren Hill, Aretha Franklin, David Bowie, James Brown, Kendrick Lamar, Leonard Cohen, Marvin Gaye, Miles Davis, Nina Simone and many more. Mathieu Jaton serves as CEO of Montreux Jazz Festival after taking over the festival in 2013.