The soloists and ensembles at the Südtirol Jazzfestival Alto Adige not only venture forth to dizzying musical heights but quite literally ascend the “real” heights of the mountains, instruments on their backs, and entertain the public against a breathtaking Alpine backdrop.

The Südtirol Jazzfestival Alto Adige is something of a ground-breaker itself: sure-footed, yet treading carefully over the “tricky” patches, the festival blazes new trails through the musical landscape, putting the mainstream jazz and concert halls of the area at risk of extinction. With contrasts and fusions in unusual concert venues and new worlds of sounds, event organisers and artists follow the path less travelled in the quest for tones unheard of and melodies unimaginable.

Hundreds of jazz artists have come to the Südtirol Jazzfestival Alto Adige as guests over the years, including world-famous names on the international stage and aspiring young musicians from the world over.

The Südtirol Jazzfestival Alto Adige was held for the first time in 1982 under the name of “Jazz Summer”, which went on to become “Jazz & Other”. While in the early years the concerts were played only in Bolzano itself, today the festival stretches throughout the whole of South Tyrol and beyond.

Premiers are the rule rather than the exception here, and many concerts are unique events which can only be experienced in this setting and in these South Tyrolean venues. The land becomes the stage, and jazz a part of the landscape. Musicians play in the towns and on the mountains, at lakes and rivers, in the squares and on the streets, in parks and castles, hotels and factory halls. Urban spaces, rocky mountain slopes and mountain pastures, with culinary climaxes and mesmerising music melting into one unique festival experience.

The Südtirol Jazzfestival Alto Adige begins each year on the last Friday of June and ends 10 days later on the first Sunday in July. Over 150 musicians from all corners of the Earth take part in the event, playing 90 concerts in over 50 different venues.