Oerlikon Music Festival celebrates the spirit of Rock 'n' Roll with a music festival that spans genres, with rock, indie-pop, folk, hiphop, R’n’B, soul and electronic music all represented.

Oerlikon Music Festival

The festival takes place, unsurprisingly, in the Oerlikon area of Zurich, a district already known for its theatres and arts venues. Four local venues host the festival, and one wristband gets you into any venue at any time.

One of the festival's four key tenets is to support local arts venues and artists. That's not to say the whole lineup is strictly from Oerlikon, but that smaller, local bands get to rub shoulders with bigger names, while the venues used are smaller, independently owned places, that may not typically host music events.

Oerlikon Music Venues and lineup

The lineup in each venue is loosely genre-themed, so you can choose whether to hang out in one spot all day listening to your favourite musical sounds, or move between venues and music types. The four places where you'll find bands playing are:

GZ Oerlikon

This is a local community centre, where usually you'll find people hanging out and playing games and chatting in the cafe. They are hosting bands like Bona Rhodes and Cat Home, and will provide an evening of indie-folk and pop-rock.

MINIMUM Leutsch

This is a bouldering hall, but the spacious bistro attached makes a perfect space for live music! With bands such as THYME and Phoam, this is the venue for pop, indie and synth lovers!

Brauerei Oerlikon

The beer garden of local Swiss beer brewers Brauerei Oerlikon is a great place to enjoy the last rays of the sunny days and listen to cool local bands. Their focus is on soul, R'n'B, rap and hiphop, with artists such as Chris Karell and Noah Faith playing. 

Mundwerk

The only regular music venue taking part, Mundwerk is an alternative art space run by people passionate about live music, dance and bringing people together. They are playing host to bands such as Attracted by Goats and KIDS, at the punk rock side of the lineup 

Attending Oelikon Music Festival

The venues are each about a 10-minute walk apart, but that does mean it would take about 30 minutes to walk directly from the first to the last venue. Tram numbers 10 and 16 connect the venues easily if you'd rather use public transport. Tram numbers 10, 11 and 14 will get you from central Zurich to the Oerlikon district in about 25 minutes, so it's also easy to attend if arriving by train from other Swiss cities.

You can buy tickets and check out the full lineup on the Oerlikon Music Festival website.