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Unplugged Festival
Zermatt
Unplugged. Acoustic. Without an amp. Without a computer. From April 9-13, the famous acoustic festival Unplugged returns to Zermatt, offering intimate musical sessions in a high-altitude setting. It’s a return to music’s most basic form, in the heart of the mountains.
The very concept of acoustic music implies a sort of quest for purity, a desire to get back to the very raw, very real root of music without technology. Zermatt itself echoes this credo in many ways. The village is surrounded by 38 mountain summits over 4,000 meters high, creating a unique setting for the festival’s 14 stages that are scattered from the village all the way up to the Gandegghütte mountain cabin at 3,030 meters (also the headquarters for the Ronnie Scott’s All Stars, a iconic local jazz band).
The main concerts in the village take place on the festival’s Marquee Stage, located between the tennis court and the Sportpavillon, near the Taste Village (the best place for food during the five-day event), at the Alex Hotel or at the Winkelmatten Chapel. Add to that a slew of new talent stages (accessible at no additional charge for Unplugged Festival Pass holders) that are scattered around the village near the Vernissage Hotel, the Mont Cervin Palace, the Cervo Hotel and the Chalet Hotel Schönegg. Additional stages are located inside the Sunnegga funicular station (at 2,288 meters) and at Blue Lounge (at 2,600 meters), which offers both spectators and musicians an exceptional view of the Matterhorn from its large terrace. A truly unique setting for an exceptionally intimate musical moment…
And yet the event is not without its challenges. It can be very cold and the weather is often capricious. For musicians, stage fright here takes on a whole new meaning. While certain artists have been performing acoustically all their lives, other musicians find the idea of performing without any studio support to be absolutely terrifying. Only the most confident musician would even dare take the risk.
Today, Zermatt Unplugged counts around 200 volunteers as part of its task force responsible for transportation, setup and takedown of some 140 tons of material. It also counts around 30,000 faithful festival-goers, who return year after year, in testament to the quality of the infrastructure, the intimacy of the performances and the exceptional festival setting.
The festival will be celebrating it’s 12th edition in 2019 from April 9-13, the week before Easter weekend. The full program incorporates some 80 concerts, which will be announced on December 12th, a few days before advance-ticket sales (December 17th) and general ticket sales (December 19th). An experience not to be missed!
