Every summer the shores of Lake Geneva come alive with the music of the Montreux Jazz Festival. Created in 1967 to put the small town of Montreux on the map, the festival has evolved into an event hosting some of the world’s best and biggest artists in an intimate, picturesque setting.

Here the festival’s director, Mathieu Jaton, shares what makes Montreux a special place for a music event; who makes up the crowd; and the performer he’s most excited to see. 

You recently announced Grace Jones as an addition to this year’s line-up, joining the likes of Chaka Khan, Raye and Lionel Richie. How do you decide on the programme?
We’re not like Glastonbury or Coachella, where you could have 100,000 people a day. The Lake Stage, which has a capacity of 5,000, provides an intimate experience with big-name acts. The goal is to create a line-up that merges the festival’s DNA with American soul legends. It’s something that we have achieved this year with Chaka Khan, Lionel Richie and Diana Ross. Quincy Jones, who co-produced the festival for three years, is essentially the godfather of the event. It is important for us to have Chaka Khan make a tribute to him. That said, it’s also crucial to have a range of music, from hip hop and rock to pop. Legends such as Neil Young and Santana star alongside Benson Boone, FKA Twigs and Noah Kahan. We want to lead the audience in the discovery of artists that they might not have heard of before, especially in Switzerland. 

What kind of experience are you creating for the artists?
We are not an open-air festival with 20 stages. You need to buy a ticket for every concert, so it’s important to create a story behind each set and an opportunity for the artist to do something different. Chaka wanted to do something special for Quincy and that’s exactly what we love. Another very important feature on the line-up is the double bill. It’s not like an opening act or a headliner – it’s two main acts. The pairing isn’t obvious when you see the names together but when you dig deeper into their music, you understand. Take Hermanos Gutiérrez and The Black Keys. In terms of style, they have nothing to do with one another. But when you know that Dan  Auerbach [the vocalist of The Black Keys] has produced the last two Hermanos Gutiérrez albums, having both bands on the line-up makes more sense. I wouldn’t be surprised if Dan joins the brothers on stage for a song. 

Are you expecting a large number of attendees from abroad? 
The festival was created as a tourist tool, so attracting people from outside Switzerland has always been important. Between 30 and 40 per cent of our attendees come from abroad, which is a big number when you have a total of 250,000 visitors. It’s a significant amount for a small place like Montreux, which has about 20,000 residents. Our largest audience is from Germany, then the UK, the US and Japan. France is in fifth place, which is funny because it’s the closest country. 

You would have no chance of seeing Benson Boone and Sam Fender in the UK, other than in a stadium or arena. Here you can see them on a stage with a capacity of 5,000 – it’s a unique and exclusive experience. 

How important is the setting to the experience of Montreux Jazz Festival?
You’re in Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Geneva and at the foot of the Alps, which offers beautiful sunsets. Montreux has a heritage of British architecture from the early 20^th century, when all the big hotels in the town were built. You can feel the spirit of The Great Gatsby here. F Scott Fitzgerald wrote part of the novel in Montreux. Strauss lived here and so did Stravinsky. Freddie Mercury, The Rolling Stones composed and recorded at the legendary Mountain Studios. 

Who are you most excited to have playing this year? 
There will be one big emotional moment for me — the Raye concert. Raye opened for Janelle Monáe at the festival last year and, at the time, she was just climbing the mountain. She is part Swiss and her grandfather lives here. Her performance was so emotional: she paid tribute to her grandfather and it was the first time that he had seen her on stage. Since then, she has become so big and we felt that we had to bring her back as a headliner on the Lake Stage. We normally don’t have artists perform two years in a row but we’ve made an exception for her because of her talent and her close ties to Montreux.