Keystone-SDA
For four days, the 35th Swiss Federal Music Festival transformed Biel/Bienne into the Swiss capital of wind instrument music. On Sunday, the organising committee said it was impressed by the massive turnout.
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Some 100,000 visitors were expected. “We don’t have a counting system, but there were probably a lot more,” the head of communications, Theo Martin, told the Swiss News Agency Keystone-ATS on the last day of the festival.
The fickle weather clearly did nothing to dampen enthusiasm. Only the parade music competition on Saturday evening had to be cancelled due to heavy rain. All the other activities went ahead as planned.
In all, 24,071 musicians from 532 associations took part in the various competitions. In large halls such as the Palais des Congrès, the Maison du Peuple and the Théâtre Nebia, expert juries assessed the performances in the various categories.
Valaisans out in force
In the “Brass Band Excellence” category, the Valaisans lived up to their reputation. Of the seven groups competing, the Valaisans took the top six places, with the Ancienne Cécilia from Chermignon taking the top prize.
The musical parades drew large crowds. The walking routes along the rue Centrale and the Quai Haut were at times lined with hedges of spectators.
On Saturday, it was almost impossible to get around on Rue Centrale,” said Theo Martin. In his opinion, the Palais des Congrès could have been filled three times over.
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In addition to the competitions, there was plenty of fun to be had at the Federal Festival. More than 60 events helped to make this a truly popular festival, as the organisers pointed out.
The organisers were particularly keen to attract young people and encourage them to learn to play an instrument. The collaboration with the Gaskessel collective in Biel/Bienne was particularly noteworthy in this respect, wrote the organisers.
The Autonomous Youth Centre (AJZ), located right next to the festival site, was initially sceptical about the Federal Music Festival. But things changed, and in the end, concerts were held every day at the “Chessu”.
Next edition in the Rhine Valley
The Federal Music Festival is normally held every five years. The last time it was held in Montreux was in 2016. The festival scheduled for 2021 in Interlaken fell victim to the Covid pandemic. For the 2026 edition, Interlaken threw in the towel for financial reasons, and Biel/Bienne took over. The final highlight was the closing ceremony on Sunday evening on the Esplanade.
The 36th Federal Music Festival will be held in 2031 in St Gallen. Just over a year ago, the delegates of the Swiss Brass Band Association officially awarded the organisation of the event to the music associations of the Rhine Valley.
The Swiss tradition of wind music goes back more than 200 years. The first civilian wind music associations were founded during the Helvetic Republic (1798-1803), modelled on the music corps of Napoleon’s French occupying troops. According to the organisers, the festival is the largest of its kind in the world.
Adapted from French by AI/ts
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