Montreux Jazz Festival: positive assessment despite more flights and fights

The curtain fell on Sunday morning on the 59th edition of the Montreux Jazz Festival, which attracted more than 250,000 people in sixteen days. For this final edition organized around the lake scene, the festive atmosphere dominated, despite an increase in thefts and fights compared to 2024. The police and local authorities greet a “well -controlled” event.

The evenings have sometimes been enamelled with night fights (50 fights against 30 in 2024), some of which led to complaints and arrests. Eight assaults, thirteen offenses related to narcotics and six police custody have also been identified. Police also seized 23 grams of cocaine, half a dose of ecstasy and 67 grams of cannabis.

Urban mediation, active from 10 p.m. to 5:30 a.m., has distributed nearly 6,000 bottles of water to prevent the risks linked to heat and alcohol, a device now “appreciated and well identified” by festival -goers, reports the Vaud cantonal police. On the health level, 1124 interventions were counted, mainly for small injuries, abuse of substances and heat strokes. Six cases of suspicious bites (GHB) were identified and 32 ambulance transport were necessary.

The organizers also point out a good membership of festival -goers with soft mobility and public transport, even if certain areas have been closed to traffic each evening to streamline traffic. Local rescue companies did not have to intervene at any time, and traffic remained generally fluid. As for waste, the volume collected has decreased compared to the two previous editions, but the cleaning teams had to manage dozens of nitrogen oxide candy, collected and treated in a specific way, because it has an explosive and incendiary risk.