Gurten Festival wraps up with 98,000 music lovers

Gurten Festival attracts 98,000 people to Bern's local mountain Keystone-SDA

Organisers of the Gurten Festival have given a positive summary on this year’s event. Over the four days, around 98,000 people – including volunteers – made their way up Bern’s local mountain for the 42nd edition of the festival.

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There were no major incidents to report, festival director Bobby Bähler told the media on Saturday afternoon before the final night with headliners Max Herre and Joy Denalane, and a performance by American star Will Smith.

Despite the rain, the final day of the festival was a sell-out, with 25,000 people expected. Apart from Thursday’s day tickets, organisers managed to distribute all remaining passes. In total, more than 45,000 unique visitors made the trip up to the ‘Güsche’.

+Gurten Festival set to attract up to 100,000 music lovers

That figure is just shy of the all-time record set in 2023, when the festival drew 98,500 admissions. However, that edition ran for an extra day to mark the anniversary. According to official figures, around 73,000 people attended last year’s event. It later emerged that an extra 7,500 tickets were issued on the Friday due to a technical glitch in the booking system.

New arrival route proves popular

Unlike last year, there were no unusual queues at the start of the festival – likely thanks to the new footpath from Blinzern, which more than 20% of visitors chose to use. For the first time, an online ‘traffic light’ system showed waiting times for travel routes and toilets. According to Bähler, around 10,000 people accessed the platform.

One of this year’s standout moments was the spontaneous public screening on the tent stage hill. Bähler estimated that between 6,000 and 8,000 people gathered on Friday evening to watch the Swiss women’s football team in their quarter-final match. “We’re pleased we could play a part in supporting the team,” he said.

Minor setbacks

The last-minute cancellation of Wednesday’s headliner Nina Chuba due to illness posed a challenge, but the Gurten team acted quickly, bringing in German rapper Ski Aggu as a replacement. Across the festival, a total of 65 bands and 78 DJs performed – 82 of the artists were women.

Bähler acknowledged that political pressure in the run-up to the event had been challenging, referring to the controversy surrounding Macklemore’s appearance. “But we’re pleased with how it turned out,” he said. The rapper drew a huge crowd, with the hill in front of the main stage packed for his set.

Organisers were also pleased with the new ‘Forum’ stage, which added live podcasts and comedy to the musical line-up. The start was “challenging”, admitted Head of Booking Christoph Haller, with only a modest turnout on a rainy Wednesday. “But after that, things really picked up.” Feedback will now be gathered to help shape and expand the programme in future editions.

Next year’s Gurten Festival will take place from July 15 to July 18.

Translated from German with DeepL/sp

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