Montreux Jazz Festival closes, with an eye to its 2nd event in China

MONTREUX, Switzerland, July 15 (Xinhua) -- The 57th Montreux Jazz Festival, which drew around 250,000 visitors to the shores of Lake Geneva over the past 16 days, came to a close on Saturday.

The event, held in the resort city of Montreux nestled between the Alps and Switzerland's largest body of water, featured more than 500 concerts and activities.

Ticket sales were among the best in history, with an average fill rate approaching 90 percent over the evenings, according to the festival's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mathieu Jaton.

However, the CEO pointed out that "it's these moments of musical magic on stage, of spontaneity and sharing, that is how the true success of this edition can be measured."

"Thanks to the audience for trusting us and trusting the artists," he told Xinhua, adding that the audience is also "part of the DNA of Montreux" and they are not only here to listen to the artists, but they're also part of the show.

Earlier at a press conference, Jaton confirmed that the second Montreux Jazz Festival in China will take place in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province in autumn.

"Montreux Jazz is not only Montreux for the two weeks of the festival, Montreux has been internationalized for many, many years," Jaton said.

In 2021, the Montreux Jazz Festival traveled to China for the first time in Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang Province, under the theme of "Where East Meets West."

While preparing for the festival's second event in China in autumn, Jaton told Xinhua in May that the Chinese market "will be a very important market for music in the future."

"The Montreux Jazz Festival in China was created to build bridges between East and West. It's a long-term work to strengthen collaboration from a tourist, economic, and cultural perspective," he said.

"Where Legends Are Born" is the slogan of the world-famous Montreux Jazz Festival, which was created in 1967 by Claude Nobs and takes place for two weeks every summer.