On the second festival day we had way more time to enjoy everything slowly in Zermatt. We decided to go uphill to the highest event stage located on 3030m over the sea level to hear some fine jazz and face fully to the sun shining down. And who had known… later on I would be very amazed by an artist I should have heard about a long long time already.
Sometimes it really happens (shock!), I don’t need to travel far out of town to join in for a music festival. It’s kind of surreal for me just to be able to get to the venue in nearly 20 minutes: while the most festivals are happening spread all over the country, this time everything was concentrated in the middle of my hometown Zurich. And as I could see during these two days, the M4Music certainly is one of the most influencing festivals in this part of the country.
April is a buzzing month, because slowly but surely, I’m able to wake up from my brief festival hibernation of three months and stick my ears wherever I can in order to enjoy familiar tunes plus discover some surprising new ones. Gosh, how I missed that! And what’s the best thing to open this year’s festival season properly? Exactly, heading on top of the mountain, for the awaited Zermatt Unplugged.
If I have to do a little retrospective about my personal 2015, it would be quite hard to decide what hits my own top 5. I lost the count of how many flights took me all over the planet and I have too many experiences still floating around in my head. In terms of travelling, I think I can put everything in one big pot, because I was never disappointed of the places I chose to see. When it comes to all the musical events I’ve been to, I can be only super grateful either: I’ve seen as many festivals and live acts like never before, and it’s very easy for me to make a choice of my favourite events.
I saw a good amount of cute mountain places in the past year, and everyone of them was characteristic in its own way. Most of the time I was told that they were going to be full of chic crowds and fur wearing ladies with a chihuahua in their bag. I didn’t really notice that, well, until I got to Verbier – and it was kind of easy to see why.
Davos is always a great place to escape the city jungle. Lucky as I am, I can enjoy some fresh mountain air within a 2 hours train ride from Zurich, which is great. And everytime I leave, I tell myself that I should do it more often. Because it’s not only about winter sports: it could be wellness, simply a walk, the heavy mountain food or an almost endless night in a bar. As you might already know, this weekend was about music. And my host during these three days was, once again, the perfect fit.
Two weekends ago, winter clearly started to kick in here in Switzerland. And what better occasion to make things easier and escape a bit to the mountains again, where the chance for sun and having some warm rays on your sweater is way higher than the grey and foggy city. Obviously I didn’t go to Davos for any type of winter sports: I never learned it, and the idea of rolling myself in wet cold snow disappeared maybe at the age of 12. I made all my way up for the 8th edition of the Songbird Festival.
Switzerland offers a great variety of festivals all year round. Clearly they prevale during summertime, but there are some great events to join in combination with a weekend out of your hometown during the colder months as well. This year, the festival playground gets richer with one more baby: Polaris Festival, Edition No.1.
Basel was for me for a long time a transit city only. Direct flights to my hometown Naples were quite rare, so I was travelling tons of times across this city just to hit the airport and be gone. I had to realize a while ago that Basel has a lot more to offer and isn’t that far away from in number of events, cultural life and summer outdoor experiences compared to Zurich. I attended one of the most outstanding fall festivals here, which is Baloise Session, and my homebase for a night has been the most perfect fit in order to have unforgettable memories.
Fall can be a season full of diversity: days can get still a nice warmth, but staying close to the city can also bring grey or foggy days. To celebrate the start of the colder season, me and my good friend Paulo decided to have a trip up in the mountains and head to Gstaad.
bohemianstella 