LongLake Summer City Festival

What a way to spend July in Lugano! Almost three whole weeks of music, art, theatre and poetry will be going on throughout the Swiss city every afternoon and evening, and all for free.

LongLake Summer City Festival 2024

Returning for its 14th edition, the LongLand Summer City Festival is bursting with things to see and do. Each Thursday to Sunday takes on its own theme, like mini-festivals within the festival, while the intervening days are still busy with supporting theatre, markets, street art and more, as well as evening musical performances.

The three different weekend themes are:

Estival Jazz

From July 11-14, it's time for jazz music to take centre stage. International artists such as Tom Walker, Gary Clark Jr., Cory Henry, Bokanté, Gil Evans Remembered and Hiromi's Sonicwonder will grace the stage, interspersed with amazing Swiss acts. 

Blues to Bop

Blues to Bop has been a festival in Lugano in the past, but always in August. This year, for the first time, it has decided to move its dates and be part of the LongLake Summer City Festival. From July 18-21, a careful selection of international musicians will offer a musical journey to celebrate the universality of the blues. Performing this year are Alex Britti, Boney Fields, DK Harrell, Dan Mudd feat. Bearbeat, the Delta Groove Band and many more.

Lugano Buskers

July 24-28 is all about the street performers. This year has been dubbed the Volcano edition, with an emphasis on performers and shows that are intense and explosive. For these days, the music and street performers are spread throughout the city instead of up on the main stage, creating a different atmosphere.

The main areas where events will be taking place are Lungolago, Piazza Manzoni, Ciani Park and Punta Foce, and the types of acts include concerts, theatre, cabaret, puppets and aerial acrobatics.

Video credit: Youtube / Lugano LongLake Festival

Markets at LongLake Summer City Festival

There will be three different markets during the 17-day-long festival. In Ciani Park, a food market will be set up for the whole festival period, with a huge range of international food and drinks to sate your appetite.

Every Thursday and Friday, there will be the summer market set up along the lakeside. This will be selling all kinds of interesting local products, cool clothes, beautiful handicrafts and gift ideas. The lakefront will be closed to traffic from 6pm-1.30am to make this the nicest possible experience.

Saturdays July 13 and 20 will host the Lugano Bazaar al Lago. This is a second-hand market where you can find vintage clothing and unusual jewellery and accessories.

Family Village

From 4pm to 9.30pm every day, the foyer of the Palazzo dei Congressi and the adjacent Ciani Park garden become the Family Village. This is a colourfully decorated, safe space for parents to hang out with their children and take part in fun activities. Having a covered space also means you can be prepared for whatever the weather!

Getting to LongLake Summer City Festival

The festival is scattered throughout the city of Lugano, so you only need to worry about getting yourself to Lugano itself. Then it's all laid out for you. Walking from the station to one of the furthest festival locations, Ciani Park, takes about 20 minutes, and there is plenty of public transport to get you about the city. Lugano itself is well connected, with trains to Zurich, Basel, Frankfurt and Milan. 

You can find out more about the full lineup of events and where they are taking place on the LongLake Summer City Festival website.