Montreux Jazz Festival makes African debut in South Africa’s wine country

The Montreux Jazz Festival made its African debut on Friday, staged in the vineyard‑lined Franschhoek Valley of South Africa's Cape winelands.

Though its home is still Switzerland, the festival has branched out globally with licensed editions and collaborations in Tokyo, Miami, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Suzhou in China.

The latest addition seeks to offer an African-inspired version, co-organiser James Stewart told AFP, saying its uniqueness lies in blending "world‑class music with the cultural richness of the Franschhoek Valley -- the food, the wine, the landscape, the community."

Among the more than 30 artists on the programme are local talents and international names, including 76‑year‑old Malian singer‑songwriter Salif Keita and South African artist Thandiswa Mazwai.

The three-day festival is expected to draw around 5,000 people a day, spokesperson Kaz Henderson said.

The capacity has been limited "to preserve the quality of the experience," she said, adding that plans were under way to make it an annual event.

The main Arches Stage will be set at the monument honouring the French Huguenots who fled religious persecution and settled in the Cape Colony in 1688.

The Swiss event takes place on the shores of Lake Geneva, near where Jean Calvin -- the theologian who inspired the Huguenots' Calvinism -- spent his final years.

But the festival's debut comes with a scheduling clash: it lands on the same weekend as the long‑running Cape Town International Jazz Festival (CTIJF), just 80 kilometres (50 miles) away.

Now in its 26th year, the CTIJF will take place in Cape Town's city centre and features acclaimed local pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim, now aged 91.

Other major figures in South African music, such as Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba, have also taken part over the festival's rich history.

Holding the festivals on the same weekend is "disappointing" as it divides both logistical resources and audiences, said Rayhaan Surve, chairman of espAfrika, the company that organises the Cape Town festival.

They are expecting more than 30,000 people over the weekend, he said.

"We're not the newcomers. To come and do that on the same weekend speaks to something that is very harmful for the industry," he added.