Features
Montreux Jazz Festival Reinvented, Launches Miami Edition
With the town’s Convention Centre under construction until 2025, Montreux Jazz Festival moves into the Casino, where everything began in the 1960s.
In order to retain its usual number of visitors, some 250,000 across 16 days, June 5-20, 2024, “the whole event is being moved along the quay in the town, with a brand-new main stage constructed on top of Lake Geneva itself,” according to a press release.
More lakeside stages will be set up in a effort to reimagine the festival’s layout. The return to Montreux Casino is emblematic, not just because it’s the place where the festival started in 1967.
The casino burned down during a concert by Frank Zappa, Dec. 4, 1971. A recording of the outbreak and fire announcement can be heard on Zappa’s bootleg album Swiss Cheese/Fire!.
The event inspired Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water,” as it thwarted the English rock group’s plans to record Machine Head at the venue.
The Casino’s musical legacy also includes performances by Nina Simone, Miles Davis, Marvin Gaye, and many more. The 1,300-capacity Casino Stage will host visitors of Montreux Jazz Festival 2024 in a half-seated, half-standing configuration.
Moving the festival outside town was never an option, according to organizers, who are “certain that the event could only take place in the extraordinary setting of Montreux, which has always been a crucial part of the Festival’s identity,” according to the press release announcing the changes.
What is more, Montreux Jazz Festival “has a cultural, economic and social responsibility,” not least because of the €80 million ($88 million) it generates for the region annually.
The new main stage (35 meters wide, 23m deep, 17m high) on Lake Geneva has a maximum capacity of 5,000 people, including 600 covered seats. The sound is provided by long-standing partner Meyer Sound.
Next year also marks the launch of Montreux Jazz Festival’s inaugural U.S. edition, March 1-3, 2024, at The Hangar in Coconut Grove, FL.
Bringing the festival over from Switzerland is five-time Grammy Award and Oscar winner
Jon Batiste with a group of partners. Batiste, co-owner of the event, will also serve as the Miami festival’s artist ambassador, and give a headline set at the inaugural edition himself.
Announced headliners for Montreux Jazz Festival Miami also include Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer Daryl Hall, and Brazilian singer/songwriter Daniela Mercury, with supporting acts, masterclass lineup, and special guests to be announced in January 2024.
Single-day ticket prices for Montreux Jazz Festival Miami start at $199, and VIP tickets at $699. Tickets for the Montreux Jam Session kicking things off on opening night are available for $99. The pre-sale has started, with the official on-sale beginning Nov. 30. Payment plans are available.
The lineup for the Swiss original hasn’t been announced yet, nor have tickets gone on sale.