Sabotage or Competition? Montreux Franschhoek Lands on Cape Town Jazz Festival Weekend

For just over a quarter of century, the Cape Town International Jazz Festival (CTIJF) has been one of the most recognisable music events in Africa. But this year a curious development has unsettled the local industry. A new international festival, that is linked to the renowned Montreux brand, has been scheduled for the very same weekend of the CTIJF, roughly 70 kilometres away.

In the months leading up to its launch, several senior staff members defected from the established festival to the newbie. In the entertainment industry, there is a word for aggressive competition. But, this raises a more uncomfortable question: When does competition begin to look like sabotage?

“Not at all,” says the Montreux Jazz Festival founder, Mark Goedvolk, two weeks and three reminders later. “The Cape Town International Jazz Festival is a well-established and important event on South Africa’s cultural calendar. “Montreux Jazz Festival Franschhoek offers a very different format and experience.

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It’s a more intimate, lifestyle-driven festival set in the Franschhoek Valley, in a village setting, with a curated programme that blends live performances, DJs, hospitality experiences and the broader cultural offering of the region. “In that sense, we see it as complementary to the broader ecosystem of music festivals in the country.” The Montreux Jazz Festival Franschhoek (MJFF) is part of the global Montreux Jazz Festival family (Rio, Miami, China and Japan). The original festival in Switzerland was founded in 1967 by Claude Nobs and remains one of the most respected music festivals in the world.

The Franschhoek edition is an official collaboration under license that brings the Montreux spirit to African soil for the first time, while also celebrating the incredible depth of talent and musical culture found across the continent. Goedvolk was a regular attendee of Montreux Jazz in Switzerland. The idea to bring the festival to Africa became more concrete over the last three to four years.

“The opportunity to host it in Franschhoek emerged through conversations between the Montreux organisation in Switzerland and us, with us both agreeing that the valley’s unique combination of culture, hospitality, food and wine made it a natural fit. From there it became a process of careful planning – building the right partnerships, securing venues, curating the programme and ensuring that the festival reflects both the heritage of Montreux and the extraordinary musical culture of Africa.”

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