Venue
Av. Claude-Nobs 5, 1820 Montreux, Switzerland
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Montreux Jazz Festival guide
Sixteen nights on Lake Geneva.
In short
Music fans can plan on the 61st Montreux Jazz Festival from 2 to 17 July 2027, mixing paid indoor concerts in intimate halls with free stages along the waterfront. The bill reaches beyond jazz into soul and blues. Individual concert tickets go on sale when the programme is announced, so book headline nights quickly and rooms early.
Montreux Jazz Festival turns a small Swiss resort on Lake Geneva into one long stage every July. What began as a modest jazz gathering is now a fortnight that draws more than 200,000 visitors, with paid concerts indoors and free stages strung along the waterfront.
The appeal is closeness. Headliners play halls that hold a few thousand people, and the lake and the promenade make the whole town feel part of the event. A big name indoors and an unknown band on the quay can share the same evening.
Jazz remains the backbone, but the bill has long reached into soul, blues, rock and hip-hop, and the crowd is just as mixed. For music lovers it is a pilgrimage. For everyone else it is a summer evening by the lake with something good playing.
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Key Facts & Stats:
Ends: Saturday, 17 July 2027
Where: Montreux, Switzerland
Venue: Centre de Congrès Montreux
Held: Every year
Type of event: Live Events, Musical Events
Currency: Swiss franc (CHF)
Time zone: Central European Time, UTC+1 (UTC+2 in summer)
Language: German, French, Italian, Romansh
Map
Getting around
Hotels near the venue fill up around the event dates.
Banned items at concert entrances
Bags are checked at the entrances to the concert areas, and the banned list is longer than at many festivals. Leave behind:
- backpacks and bulky luggage
- umbrellas and folding seats
- glass bottles and your own food
- cameras
If you refuse to hand over or take back a banned item you are turned away, and the ticket is not refunded. A small shoulder bag and a light jacket for the lake breeze after dark are the safe choice. There is food on site, so arriving hungry is no problem.
Age rules and ID checks after 10pm
Children under 6 are not allowed into the concert areas at all, and anyone under 16 must be with an adult. After 10pm the nightlife venues ask for identity documents, so carry a passport or ID card even if you only plan a late drink. Families with small children are better off on the open-air promenade in daylight hours, when the stages outside the halls are calmer and easier to leave.
Wristbands for re-entry and ear protection
At the Stravinski and the LAB your ticket is scanned once and exchanged for a bracelet. With it you can leave between sets and come back freely. Lose it and you are not let back in, even with the original ticket, so fasten it properly. Free earplugs are handed out at the concert entrances; take a pair, as the halls are loud and the sets long.
An Insider wristband with Fast Lane access does not get you into a free stage that has reached capacity. On busy weekend evenings, go early to the stage you care about most and stay put.
Wheelchair access and companion seating
The site is accessible for wheelchair users, with a drop-off point on Avenue Claude-Nobs, adapted toilets, a reception point for disabled guests and reserved spaces in the paid halls. A companion travels free with a seated ticket, but only if you order the "Accueil handicap" tickets before the festival starts. These cannot be booked on the day. Write to accessibility@mjf.ch to arrange it. Online ticket payment accepts the main cards and Twint.
What happens on the day
- Afternoon
The waterfront fills
Free shuttle buses are reinforced from 14:00 at weekends and 18:00 on weekdays, which is when the crowd arrives.
- Evening
Paid concerts
Doors open before the first act in the Auditorium Stravinski and the Scène du LAB. Arrive at opening for a better spot on the floor.
- Evening
Free stages
The open-air stages and bars along the lake need no ticket, space permitting.
- Late night
Clubs and bars
The action moves indoors. Festival buses run until 04:00 on weekdays and 05:00 at weekends.
Paid venues, free stages and booking accommodation early
Plan around one split. Only two rooms at Montreux need a ticket: the Auditorium Stravinski, where headliners play to about 3,500 people, and the Scène du LAB. Every other stage along the waterfront costs nothing, as long as there is space. So a sensible visit mixes one or two paid nights in the convention centre with long, cheap evenings drifting between the open-air stages and bars by the water. Buy the paid shows as soon as the line-up appears. The big names go first.
Give yourself at least three or four nights. One paid concert, one evening with no plan at all, and one day off the waterfront, at Chillon or on the train into the mountains, is a good shape. For wider trip ideas, our Switzerland travel guide covers the rest of the country.
The festival's 1967 founding and the 1971 casino fire
Claude Nobs started it in 1967 with Géo Voumard and René Langel, backed by the Ertegun brothers of Atlantic Records. That debut ran for three days inside the Montreux Casino and was strictly jazz. Within a few years the doors opened to blues, soul and rock, and later to funk, hip-hop and music from far beyond Europe. Jazz still anchors the programme, but the festival has long booked live music across many genres.
The story every visitor hears happened in December 1971. During a Frank Zappa concert at the Casino, someone fired a flare gun at the ceiling and the building burned down. Deep Purple, in town to record, watched the smoke roll across Lake Geneva and wrote Smoke on the Water about it. The "Funky Claude" in the lyrics is Nobs, who helped people out of the fire. The rebuilt Casino reopened in 1975.
Quincy Jones co-produced the festival from 1991 to 1993, and in 1993 it moved to the convention centre that is still its home. Mathieu Jaton has led it since Nobs died in 2013. The centre then closed for renovation in July 2023, the big shows played on a temporary platform over the water, and 2026 marked the return.
Getting there
Flying in
Geneva airport is the closest major gateway. Trains leave from the station in the terminal and reach Montreux in a bit under an hour along the north shore of the lake.
By train
Direct services also run from Lausanne, Visp and Brig. SBB adds extra trains and late specials during the festival, including late runs to Martigny and Sion.
In town
The convention centre on Avenue Claude-Nobs is a short walk downhill from the station. VMCV buses 201 and 204 and the N291 night bus are free during the festival, and the Territet-Glion funicular runs until 03:00.
Driving
Parking is limited and Grand-Rue is closed to private cars in the evening. Cyclists get 400 free secure spaces on Place de l'Eurovision.
Where to stay during the festival
The festival itself warns that demand for rooms is very high, and the town is small. Book through Montreux Riviera early in the year.
If the centre is full, look along the shore at Clarens, Territet and Villeneuve, all on the free late buses, or up the hill at Glion, linked by funicular until 3am.
Weather and what to pack
July on the Lake Geneva shore is warm, with summer storms. The Montreux-Clarens station records an average July high of 24.9°C and a low of 15.1°C, and about 130 mm of rain over ten wet days (MeteoSwiss, 1961-1990).
Evenings by the water are mild, but a thunderstorm can roll in off the mountains.
Worth packing
- A light rain jacket, since umbrellas are refused at the entrances
- A small bag (backpacks are also refused)
- A layer for late nights by the lake
- Comfortable shoes for the waterfront
Car hire in Montreux
Airport transfer to Montreux Jazz Festival
Met at arrivals at Lyon-Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS) and driven door to door to Centre de Congrès Montreux.
- Lyon-Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS) → Centre de Congrès Montreux
- 236 km · 2 hr 45 min
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Need help?
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Booking
No. Only shows in the Auditorium Stravinski and the Scène du LAB are ticketed. The other stages around the site are free, though entry depends on space and on any access rules in force that year.
Timing & weather
The dates are shown at the top of this page. The full line-up and individual concert dates are released later, usually in spring.
General
The main hall, Auditorium Stravinski, takes about 3,500 people, and Miles Davis Hall about 1,800. That is small for artists of this level, which is a large part of the appeal.
Yes. The festival lends its name to international events in Franschhoek, Miami, Suzhou and Yokohama. They are separate, smaller festivals; the main event stays in Montreux every July.
Besides Montreux, there are Montreux Jazz Cafés in Lausanne, at the EPFL and EHL campuses, and in Geneva, at the airport and at Pont-Rouge. Handy for a meal with a soundtrack before your flight home.
No, backpacks are on the list of refused items at the entrances, along with umbrellas and large bags. Travel light or leave the bag in your room before heading to the halls.
Yes. Once your ticket is exchanged for a bracelet you can go out and return as often as you like, as long as the bracelet stays on your wrist.
Report it at one of the festival cloakrooms, or call 021 966 44 44 between 9am and 10pm. You can also email info@mjf.ch with a description of the item.
Yes. A guarded bike park on Place de l'Eurovision has 400 free spaces for bikes and e-bikes, with charging points, which makes cycling in from the shore villages easy.
Getting there
Yes, VMCV lines 201 and 204 are free and run much later than usual, and the N291 night bus is free too. Trains are not free. Extra services are added.
Very little. Drivers are directed to car parks in Montreux, Villeneuve and La Tour-de-Peilz, and illegal parking is strictly enforced because it blocks emergency access. Trains and the free buses beat circling the lakefront.
Families & accessibility
Not inside the concert areas if they are under 6. Teenagers under 16 can go in with an adult. The waterfront outside the venues is open to all ages.