Switzerland joins in celebration of music
Switzerland is gearing up to celebrate the “Fête de la Musique”, a free public music festival which celebrates the start of summer.
The annual event is already popular in the French-speaking part of the country and has now also begun to attract audiences in German-speaking cantons.
Launched in France in 1982, the festival has since spread to more than 100 countries and is traditionally held on or around the summer solstice on June 21.
The event was first staged in Switzerland in 1992 when the city of Geneva played host to a series of summer concerts.
Musical performances are now also staged in other parts of the country in public locations such as streets, parks and castles.
Canton Bern is taking part in the festival for the first time this year. Hundreds of professional and amateur musicians have been drafted in for the event, to be attended by some 29 music schools.
“People will be able to see and hear just how many people living in our canton actively contribute to and enjoy our very diverse music scene,” said the organisers of the festival in Bern.
Street festival
The city of Zurich is hosting the event for the second time and organisers hope to build on the success of the first festival in 2003.
“Last year was a real success as it brought music to a normally quiet district,” said the organiser in Zurich, Sandrine Charlot Zinsli.
“People put sofas outside and residents took over the streets,” she added.
Like its counterpart in Bern, the Zurich festival will take place on June 19, two days before the official date of the summer solstice.
Organisers are promising a multicultural event with a mix of jazz and rock as well as performances by artists from Cuba and Macedonia.
But the biggest and oldest festival is due to take place in Geneva. Some 500 concerts are scheduled to take place over three days.
“We have even scaled things down from last year,” said the event’s co-organiser, Thierry Sartoretti, adding that he expected 250,000 visitors this year.
Feel the beat
The Fête de la Musique enjoys a loyal following in the French-speaking part of the country, with events also planned in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Neuchâtel, Nyon and Lausanne.
There is even a Swiss Fête de la Musique Association which aims to promote the festival across the country.
Sartoretti says that the festival’s main appeal lies in the fact that it is organised and supported by a network of volunteers.
“It’s all based on the idea of giving,” Sartoretti told swissinfo. “The concerts are in effect free and the musicians aren’t paid.”
“It’s also an original event – it is not a carnival or a festival with lots of stars,” he added.
swissinfo
The Fête de la Musique was originally launched by the French Ministry of Culture in 1982.
The aim is to create free festivals that are open to the public and any professional and amateur musicians who want to take part.
Events are scheduled to take place in a number of Swiss cities, including Geneva, Zurich and Bern.
The Fête de la Musique takes place around the time of the summer solstice on June 21.
Some places, such as Bern and Zurich, are holding it on June 19.
In Geneva, some 500 concerts will take place over three days.
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