The Festival’s portrait

Cully Jazz Festival is the main musical event of spring in French-speaking Switzerland. Over nine days, more than 150 concerts and twenty events dedicated to jazz and its associated genres will electrify the village of Cully. In 2019, 60’000 people explored the alleys, the wine-cellars and the lakeside of Cully during the Festival. The 39th edition should take place from August 20 to 29, 2021.

Since more than 35 years, Cully Jazz Festival has remained faithful to the values ​​that underlie its success: the quality of its musical programming, the commitment of volunteers, and the loyalty of festival-goers thanks to a wonderful natural setting and a warm welcome. Curious and enthusiastic, festival-goers respond every year to the call of artists and organisers.

Jazz in all its forms

Every year, jazz is celebrated in the village of Cully, with prestigious concerts attracting substantial crowds. Festival-goers wishing to enjoy the unique atmosphere of the place wander as they please in a constellation of wine-cellars constituting the scene for the OFF Festival. It is undoubtedly this combination between paying and free concerts in the IN and OFF Festivals respectively that seduces a dedicated audience.

The OFF Festival, spanning fifteen cafés, ephemeral scenes and wine-cellars scattered throughout the village, is in itself a springboard for the new generation of jazz in Switzerland.

On its three stages – Chapiteau, Next Step and Temple – the IN Festival can pride itself on having welcomed prestigious artists such as Bobby Mc Ferrin, Wayne Shorter, Gilberto Gil, McCoy Tyner, Stephan Eicher, Madeleine Peyroux, Marianne Faithfull, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Charles Lloyd, Ibrahim Maalouf, Jan Garbarek, Carla Bley, Marcus Miller, Manu Dibango, Thomas Dutronc, Michel Petrucciani, Manu Katché, John Scofield, Ahmad Jamal, Randy Weston, Seun Kuti, Monty Alexander, Gregory Porter, Avishai Cohen and Lisa Simone.

The OFF Festival consists of around fifteen cafés and wine cellars spread throughout the village. It provides a springboard for many young Swiss Jazz musicians; artists playing in the OFF Festival often find themselves on the line-up for the IN Festival a couple of years later. However, sometimes the opposite happens, and an artist having played at the IN decides to come back to Cully for a residency during the OFF.

A Festival in the heart of Lavaux

Located on the shores of Lake Geneva, in the heart of Lavaux – a UNESCO World Heritage Site –  Cully is a wine-producing village with a unique charm. Every spring, its inhabitants open their doors, their wine-cellars and sometimes even their living-rooms to welcome musicians in order to share uniquely convivial moments.Lovers of quality music, elegant wines and conviviality will feel at home in a festival humming with energy thanks to the generosity of Cully’s inhabitants.

The festival would not exist without the force of its volunteers supporting it. Led by an association of passionate people, the organising team is composed of a permanent office of two to eight people during the year and a dozen volunteer members. During the nine days of the festival, this permanent team is supported by 700 volunteers spread across all sectors of the organisation.

Sustainable development

Conscious of its impact on the environment, Cully Jazz Festival strives to reduce its ecological footprint and preserve the magnificent setting it is hosted in. Every year, the Sustainable Development Commission sets new goals aimed at reducing the environmental impact of the Festival. In particular, it was responsible for the introduction of refundable fees for cups and dishes, for the use of primarily renewable and locally-produced electricity, as well as for the constant improvement of the public transport network to and from the Festival.

Mission

The main mission of the Festival is to promote jazz and its artists through a high quality event open to all audiences. Cully looks to the future in its promotion of jazz, and quality, accessibility, and exploration are the main characteristics that we wish to promote. Showcasing the Lavaux area and its extraordinary heritage is one of the Festival’s key values.

Overview

38th edition in 2020

60’000 spectators in 2019

A budget of CHF 2.4 million for 2020

19% of Swiss artists in 2020 (Festival IN)

13’133 tickets sold in 2019

724 volunteers

8 paid staff (4 of whom work year round), representing 3.6 full time posts for the 2019 edition

Festival IN 2020

38 ticketed concerts

  • Chapiteau:
    seating capacity 900,
    standing capacity 1’400
  • Next Step:
    seating capacity 300,
    standing capacity 500
  • Temple:
    seating capacity 280
  • Union Vinicole de Cully:
    seating capacity 100

Festival OFF 2020

More than 100 free concerts

16 ephemeral stages, cafés and wine cellars

Connectivity 2020

(figures as at 30 June 2020)

149’000 visits to the website between January and April 2019

505’000 pages view on the website

50’610 subscribers to the newsletter

21’629 Facebook Fans

8’488 Twitter followers

8’053 Instagram followers

About wine

15’892 bottles of wine in 2019

45 winemakers from the Lavaux are represented in the Festival’s drink selection

1 partnership with the label Terravin

Environmentally-friendly actions

Refundable and reusable cups have been in use since 2009, refundable crockery since 2014

60% of all festivalgoers used public transportation, cycled or walked to the festival in 2019

80% of all waste was recycled in 2019

92% green energy

During the festival, logistics are entirely run by bike