59 Best Performing Arts in Switzerland

International jazz acts play in intimate venues, from hotels to open-air stages, every July.

The several stages of Basel's former barracks are the center of Basel's indie music scene, with local and international shows several nights a week, as well as theater and dance performances. The venue also includes the popular KaBar for drinks, lunch, and snacks.

Held since 1946, the festival screens prestigious international movies every August on the Piazza Grande.

Billed as Bern's oldest music club, Mahogany Hall hosts a wide range of Swiss and international artists that play a variety of musical styles. There's also a twice-monthly salsa night featuring a dance workshop. Check online for the calendar.

This popular place hosts top international jazz, blues, and gospel artists between September and May.

The renowned Montreux Jazz Festival takes place every July in the ultramodern Auditorium Stravinski and other lakeside venues. Popular events sell out in hours.

The Stadtcasino hosts the Basel Symphony Orchestra and the Basel Chamber Orchestra. This is also the city's top address for a wide range of visiting musicians. The venue was renovated by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron and reopened in fall 2020.

For a real introduction to the local experience, don't miss the Tellfreilichtspiele, an outdoor pageant presented in Interlaken every summer by a cast of Swiss amateurs. Wrapped in a rented blanket and seated in a 2,200-seat sheltered amphitheater that opens onto illuminated woods and a permanent "medieval" village set, you'll see 180 players in splendid costumes acting out the epic tale of Swiss hero Wilhelm Tell. The text is Friedrich Schiller's famous play, performed in German with the guttural singsong of a Schwyzerdütsch accent—but don't worry; with galloping horses, flower-decked cows, bonfires, parades, and, of course, the famous apple-shooting climax, the operatic story tells itself.

For more than two weeks overlapping July and August, the Verbier Festival hosts an impressive classical music festival of performances and master classes. Two Verbier Festival orchestras and soloists of the caliber of Elisabeth Leonskaja, Evgeny Kissin, and Joshua Bell put on a stunning 17-day, 60-concert program that plays out in various venues all over Verbier.

The creative, colorful French children's theater Am Stram Gram draws inspiration from myths, traditional tales, lyric poetry, and contemporary writing.

Live music, from rock to swing, is on offer many nights a week at this restaurant-bar-club, along with occasional DJs and dance parties.

During various months throughout the year, concerts are given at 5 pm on Tuesday on the hand-painted organ in Arosa's 500-year-old, wooden-roof Bergkirchli mountain chapel. Check the Arosa Kultur website for details.

From approximately October to May, marionettes, stick puppets, hand puppets, shadow puppets, and masks come to life on stage at the Berner Puppentheater.

Orchestral work and chamber music are performed by this orchestra in venues all over Bern, as well as in other cities.

In July, the eclectic (and badly named) Blue Balls Festival brings nine days of indoor and outdoor concerts, plus a lakeside market and a host of food and drink vendors.

At the end of August, this festival livens up the Piazza della Riforma.

Bühnen Bern handles ticket sales for the Berner Symphonieorchester (Bern Symphony Orchestra), Oper Bern (Bern Opera), Bern Ballet, and Schauspiel Bern (Bern Theater).

This beautiful venue hosts a variety of concerts and other events. Check online for the concert program.

Comédie de Genève stages modern dramas and international classics in French.

The Engadin Festival takes place from late July to mid-August, with smaller-scale performances throughout the Upper Engadine.

Early July brings this jazz and world music festival to the Piazza della Riforma.

One of the region's most popular events, the Festival International de l'Orgue Ancien Valère takes place throughout July and August. Tickets are sold at the tourist office and online in advance and at the church after 3 pm the day of the concert. Note that you need to walk up a steep road and stairs to reach the venue.

The ticket service at FNAC Rive manages sales for an ever-changing list of events.

The Grand Théâtre stages operas, ballets, and recitals with an international flair in a magnificent theater inspired by the Palais Garnier in Paris.

The Gstaad Menuhin Festival & Academy hosts a series of classical concerts from mid-July to early September.

Altstadt streets empty briefly in mid-July as A-list rockers draw crowds up the hill to the four-day open-air Gurten Festival.

At venues throughout Arosa, classical music and jazz concerts, theater, and children's programs begin in mid-June and last through mid-October. Get the program from Arosa Kultur.

Surrounded by beautifully landscaped grounds between the Höheweg and the River Aare, the Kursaal was built in 1859 in a dramatic combination of Oberland-chalet and Victorian styles. Plays and concerts are often presented here, mostly during the high season.

The Grütli Arts Center, a multidisciplinary arts hub, shows both classic and modern films of all genres.

Les Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad presents classical music concerts from late January to early February.