Gurtenfestival 2027
Four days of music on Bern's local mountain, the Gurten — with sweeping city views and a lineup mixing international stars and Swiss acts.
Location : Berne (Bern) · Usual period : mid-July
This edition
Annual music festival held on Gurten mountain near Bern.
The festival
The Gurtenfestival in Bern includes a dedicated stage called the Waldbühne, which has a long history dating back to 1977, when the festival was still known as the International Folkfestival Gurten. After a four-year pause, the Bern concert agency Music Service took over the festival in 1991 and gave it a musical rejuvenation. From 1993 to 1997, the intimate Waldbühne stage hosted notable international acts such as Ben Harper, Keb Mo, Taj Mahal, Marla Glen, Jeff Buckley, Dr. John, Jimmy Cliff, and Luka Bloom, among others. The stage had to cease operations due to the renovation of the Gurten Hotel into the Gurten Park im Grünen.
The Waldbühne was successfully relaunched in 2007 as a platform for Swiss music. That year, 18 bands performed on the stage, and the Swiss newcomer award, worth 5,000 Swiss francs, was presented to the band Pegasus. In 2008, the online platform waldbuehne.ch was launched, allowing bands and the public to actively shape the program. Over 500 bands registered, and tens of thousands of ratings were submitted. Since 2009, four slots in the Waldbühne lineup have been determined through the Waldbühne Contest, where the audience votes for their favorite acts. In 2018, the stage was relocated to a more central and prominent position on the festival grounds, near the Soundgarden dance tent, enhancing its visibility and quality.
Getting there, on site
The Waldbühne is part of the Gurtenfestival, which takes place in Bern. The stage is located on the festival grounds, and since 2018 it has been positioned near the Soundgarden dance tent, making it a central part of the festival area. Tickets for the Waldbühne Contest are available, and the festival also offers early bird ticket sales. For those interested in participating in the contest, bands can register on the waldbuehne.ch platform, and the public can vote for their favorite bands. The festival also has a newsletter for updates and special offers.
