Swiss festival season opens with music legends and streaming stars

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From Gorillaz to Raye, Sting to Theodora, the Swiss festival season opens with a musical divide between legends of the 1970s-1990s and stars born on social media platforms. It's a trend that runs through the summer's main line-ups, from Montreux to Nyon.

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The festival kicks off on Thursday with Festi’Neuch (June 12-15) and the Greenfield Festival (June 11-13). In Neuchâtel, the festival is sold out, with a mix of French-language stars and new streaming stars. Vanessa Paradis, Feu Chatterton and Jean-Louis Aubert rub shoulders with Adèle Castillon, Miki and Théa.

One of the most eagerly-awaited events will be the first visit to Switzerland by Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap. The group, who hail from Belfast and perform in English and Irish Gaelic, tackle crude and highly political themes, oscillating between drugs, Irish culture and virulent criticism of the British occupation.

In Interlaken, the Greenfield Festival remains true to its rock and metal DNA. Americans The Offspring, heroes of Californian punk rock in the 1990s, will be sharing the bill with Denmark’s Volbeat.

The Caribana Festival (June 18-21), in Crans-près-Céligny, will then take over with a popular line-up including French-speaking artists Mika, Louane, M Pokora and Kendji Girac.

Artists from one festival to the next

Several Festi’Neuch artists will continue their Swiss tour at the Paléo Festival (July 21-26). Vanessa Paradis, Feu! Chatterton, Adèle Castillon and Miki are also on the bill at the country’s biggest open air festival.

One of the young artists to watch this summer is Sam Sauvage. With his deep voice and quirky universe, the 26-year-old French singer has quickly established himself as one of the revelations of the new French-speaking scene. After a stint at Festi’Neuch, he’ll be back in French-speaking Switzerland at the Paléo Festival before the Docks in Lausanne at the end of November.

In Nyon, the organisers have decided to mix the generations. The legendary British new wave band The Cure and Gorillaz, neither totally “dinosaurs” nor really “new streaming generation”, but a hybrid band, already digital before the TikTok era, rub shoulders with more recent artists such as Theodora. Nicknamed “La Boss Lady”, this 26-year-old Franco-Congolese singer, born in Lucerne and brought to public attention via social networks, has been making her mark on the French-speaking scene since 2024.

Montreux between monuments and new talent

The Montreux Jazz Festival (July 3-18), which is celebrating its 60th edition, brings together Sting, Nick Cave, Deep Purple, Van Morrison and James Taylor. Sting, the former leader of The Police who has gone on to enjoy a successful solo career, returns to Montreux for the ninth time, while Australian singer Nick Cave will be back for the third time. Cave has been dishing out dark rock with the Bad Seeds since he made his name in Wim Wenders’ film Wings of Desire in 1987.

The programme also features emblematic artists from the new international scene. Britain’s Raye, 28, will be opening the festivities. After writing behind the scenes for major artists such as Beyoncé and David Guetta, she broke free from her record label to go solo.

Moby eagerly awaited

One of the highlights of this year’s festival will also be the first appearance of Moby, one of the leading figures in electronic music, who popularised the genre in the 1990s with cult albums such as “Play”. “We’ve been waiting for him for 30 years,” said festival director Mathieu Jaton when presenting the programme.

The movement of artists between festivals is also reflected at Openair Frauenfeld (July 9-11), where Wiz Khalifa, Gunna and Yeat will headline Europe’s biggest hip-hop festival.

Ticino is not to be outdone. The season opens with JazzAscona (25 June 25-July 4), followed by Moon&Stars in Locarno (1July 10-20), Lugano LongLake Festival (July 9-26) and Vallemaggia Magic Blues (July 10-August 6).

Translated from French by AI/jdp

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