This year marks the 41st edition of the must-experience “Em Bebbi sy Jazz”—the outdoor jazz event that takes place in Basel every year on a Friday night in lateAugust. On this evening, more than 70 bands and choirs with over 500 musicians and singers, will play on 29 stages set up in every square and courtyard throughout the city’s center. The festival locations range from the former central post office, Marktplatz, Fischmarkt, Rümelinsplatz, Gerbergasse, and Leonhardskirchplatz to Gemsberg, Heuberg, Spalenberg, and Nadelberg. Each of the stages will host bands from a particular style of music from Latin jazz, gypsy jazz, dixie, boogie, Balkan beats, choir, and big band to funk, blues, soul, rock ’n’ roll, and contemporary jazz.
After hearing multilingual singing at the Eurovision Song Contest, this year’s edition of Em Bebbi sy Jazz will be honoring Switzerland's linguistic diversity with the "FOCUS" 2025 theme dedicated to a particularly exciting aspect—the musical diversity in Switzerland's national languages—under the title "Esoo singt d Schwyz." The FOCUS theme will take place on two of the 29 stages: the Schmiedenhof Open-Air and the Rümelinsplatz Open-Air.
On the Rümelinsplatz Open-Air, you can check-out Neapolitan-born Max Cole, who will take the audience on a journey back to the 1950s with his Italo-American Vulcani Quartet, presenting an exciting blend of swinging jump-blues-jive. The reggae artist Collie Herb & Band brings South American rhythms into Swiss dialect—a sought-after act throughout the German-speaking world. The charismatic artist from Eastern Switzerland, Michael von der Heide, combines French chanson with Swiss identity. In 2010, he represented Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo with the song "Il pleut de l'or" and has received numerous awards.
On the Schmiedenhof Open-Air, you can discover the Basel quartet Mistral, which represents "Nouvelle Chanson"—an elegant combination of traditional chanson with modern folk-pop. The singer-songwriter Mattiu sings in Romansh and captivates audiences with his melancholic songs. He was named "Best Talent" by SRF3 in 2022 and is considered an up-and-coming voice in the Romansh music scene. And finally, the French-speaking Swiss duo Carrousel, who have been touring Switzerland and abroad for years with their catchy singer-songwriter pop, will take the stage. They reached the Eurovision Song Contest preliminary round in 2013 and were nominated for the Swiss Music Award in the categories "Best Act Romandie" and "Best Talent" in 2014 and 2015.
New this year is the added location of the Unternehmen Mitte, which will provide an extra stage for live music as well as an afterparty space until 02:00 in the morning. Another highlight is the unique symbiosis of swing, groove, and dance that connect musicians with the audience and which can be experienced in the courtyard of the Musikmuseum when the Chicago Swing Collective meets the Basel Jitterbugs and invites everyone to join in. And finally, check out the unique playing style of Basel-based New Zealander Zarek Silberschmidt, who with his exceptional finger-picking technique uses all parts of his instruments, including percussion effects, to interpret a full range of styles, such as jazz manouche, flamenco, blues, country, and folk. He will be playing on the newly designed “Platz Noodlebärg” stage from 19:00-20:00, kicking off the solo artist program.
As every year, you are welcome to spend the evening roaming around town and stopping to listen and watch whatever catches your ear. If you would prefer, however, to plan your evening based on specific bands or musical genres, you can use the filter function " My Bebbijazz" on the program page on their website (https://www.embebbisyjazz.ch/programm/). Here you can get a better overview of the diverse program with a huge musical range and select your favorites. You can select your preferred style in the "Genres" control panel, as well as individually mark each concert of interest in the program overview. When you click on "zu meinen Favoriten," the website creates your personalized program that is saved on the server and which you can access on the evening of the festival, print out in advance, or share with friends and acquaintances social media channels.
In addition to the music stages, various drink and food stands are set up around the city center, making for a fun evening out. Check out the program on their website for a map of the various stages and a detailed list of the bands playing (https://www.embebbisyjazz.ch/programm/), or download the PDF (https://www.embebbisyjazz.ch/wp-content/uploads/EBSJ24_Programm_Spielorte_Web2.pdf).
Tip: The event attracts between 70,000 and 100,000 spectators, depending on the weather, making it too crowded to manage a stroller!
All concerts at this fabulous event are completely free.

Website
embebbisyjazz.ch/

Where
Marktplatz
4001 Basel

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