Südtirol Jazzfestival Alto Adige

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From June 26 to July 5, 2026, South Tyrol once again becomes a stage: the Südtirol Jazzfestival Alto Adige invites audiences to explore the current currents of European jazz across more than 50 concerts, each in a distinctly different setting.

In 2026, the festival presents itself once again as a laboratory for contemporary music, with unpredictability as its guiding principle. New venues, open-ended projects and unconventional concert formats create a dynamic network of sound, landscape and encounter. This year's edition brings together contemporary jazz with collective improvisation, experimental club culture and performances in the heart of nature.

The opening takes place on June 26 at NOI Techpark in Bolzano. Artistic directors Stefan Festini Cucco, Max von Pretz and Roberto Tubaro open the festival for the second consecutive year with a jazz orchestra: the Gard Nilssen Supersonic Orchestra. Like a musical cell division, the musicians break away from the orchestral body throughout the festival to perform in shifting configurations across different venues, including the Supersonic Horns at the Silvester Chapel in Vallunga.

Bolzano is the heart of the festival: Piazza Walther, Alcide Berloffa Park, NOI Techpark, the Batzenhäusl and Parkhotel Laurin are just some of the city's venues. The festival also radiates outward across the whole region — from Merano to Brixen and Bruneck, and into remote valleys and mountain landscapes — with new venues including the Merano Racecourse, the historic inn Gasthof zum Hirschen in Sarentino, Hotel Bad Ratzes, Haus Guggenberg in Brixen and the lakeside stage at Wunderwald in Klobenstein.

With "Sonic Reactions", musicians who have never met perform together on stage with no prior preparation — spontaneous reaction in place of a rehearsed set. The Late Night series opens the festival towards club culture, from electroacoustic experimentation to danceable fusions of jazz and experimental pop. Artists such as Anaïs Drago, Elektro Guzzi, O.N.E. and Kit Downes exemplify a programme that deliberately pushes beyond stylistic boundaries.

The festival again emphasises collaboration with young musicians from the Euregio region: under the direction of Laura Zöschg, a cross-border project brings together artists from South Tyrol, Tyrol and Trentino. The "Kabarila Jazz Ritual" reaches its fourth stage: five years, five hours, a collective ritual between concert and performance. Matteo Paggi and Andrea Grossi will create a live soundtrack for a selection of Catalan silent films, in collaboration with the Bolzano Film Festival Bozen.

Many concerts move beyond traditional venues into forests, mountain pastures and remote alpine locations. The Südtirol Jazzfestival Alto Adige shows once again that jazz is at its most exciting wherever it creates spaces — between people, places and expectations.

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