It’s been a while since my last post. After travelling the east coast for another three weeks, I returned inspired and grateful for all the experiences I made back to Switzerland. Going home wasn’t too hard for me since I live in central Switzerland at the beautiful Lake Lucerne and I wake up every day with a spectacular view over the lake and the mountains. AND I had something I was looking very much forward to. Before I went on my trip I bought tickets for the Zermatt Unplugged, which obviously takes place in Zermatt at the bottom of the Matterhorn.
Switzerland is famous for many famous music festivals but this one is unique in so many ways. It was the second time I went and the first time was four years ago. During the opening concert I couldn’t understand why I haven’t been back for four YEARS! As this edition was the 10th edition, they were very keen on offering a spectacular festival. And they did. The opening concert was Stephan Eicher and no one would have expected the swiss musicians Steff la Cheffe and Heidi Happy to be with him on stage during the whole concert. He also had a baker on stage who was baking a cake as it was someones birthday and at the end everybody got a little chocolate cake. Happy Birthday Zermatt Unplugged!
The days went on and one highlight chased the next. It was crazy how many free concerts they offered. From the 80 concerts in total, were about 60 for free or accessible with a festival pin (20.-). Many young talents were performing in all kinds of locations: restaurant terraces, bars, on the slope, in the Gornergrat train etc. So when we didn’t go up on the mountain to hit the slopes, we just enjoyed all these amazing concerts in the village during the day. And then in the evening the big acts were hitting the stage: Nelly Furtado, Paolo Nutini, KT Tunstall and LP were absolutely killing it. Paolo Nutini discovered Schnaps in Zermatt and after his show he almost fell of the stage because he was so drunk, but his performance was outstanding! It was his only concert in Europe this year and you could feel how much he enjoyed it. I’d say this is the special thing about the Zermatt Unplugged: the artists really really enjoy being there. They know each other and invite them on stage to do beautiful covers. KT Tunstall brought it pretty much on point with saying: “In a world where difficult things are happening, it’s such a nice idea to go up on a mountain, close the doors and just enjoy the beauty of nature and listen to all theses talented musicians.” It truly is a place to escape from everything and kind of disconnect to the world.
So if you don’t have to go skiing in February where everybody else goes, wait until April and go to Zermatt. The snow is still amazing and the whole setting of the Zermatt Unplugged creates such a beautiful atmosphere.
The snow, the atmosphere, the views, the food, the acoustic, the festival app, the locations and then the music – they have it all figured out so perfectly!
Zermatt Unplugged is pure perfection!
Here’s the playlist on Spotify of this years’ Zermatt Unplugged:
And here some photos 🙂
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