Montreux

== Culture ==
Montreux was a haven for Catherine Barkley and Lt. Frederic Henry in Ernest Hemingway's classic novel ''[[A Farewell to Arms]]''.

Montreux hosts several festivals:
* The Septembre musical de Montreux, founded in 1946 and held every year since then.
* [https://www.montreuxcelebration.com/ Freddie Celebration Days] — Montreux Celebration is organising this major and entirely free event in Montreux around September 5, the birthday of [https://www.montreuxcelebration.com/en-2-freddie-mercury-and-montreux.html Freddie Mercury], late singer of the band Queen.
* The [[Montreux Jazz Festival]], held annually in July since 1967. It is held at the [[Montreux Convention Centre]], built in 1973, and has become a global phenomenon.
* The Golden Rose Festival, annually in spring (1961–2003), which awarded the [[Golden Rose of Montreux]], an international award for television.
* The Golden Award of Montreux, annually in April, is traditionally, since 1989, the first international advertising and multimedia Competition in Europe – starting the global season for awarding creative excellence.

Montreux has a walking trail along the lake, stretching from [[Villeneuve, Vaud|Villeneuve]] to Vevey. The main square of the town, Place du Marché, features a statue of Freddie Mercury facing Lake Geneva. Some of the numerous small cities around Montreux include La Tour-de-Peilz, and Villeneuve. The [[Château of Chillon]] has views over Lake of Geneva and can be accessed via bus, train, walk or boat.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}

[[Deep Purple]] traveled to Montreux in December 1971 to record ''[[Machine Head (album)|Machine Head]]''. The band's song "[[Smoke on the Water]]" tells of the events of December 1971, when a [[Frank Zappa]] fan with a flare gun set the [[Montreux Casino]] on fire, destroying the casino where they had originally planned to record the album. Thanks to [[Claude Nobs]], who eventually arranged alternate locations, the [[Hôtel des Alpes-Grand Hôtel|Grand Hôtel de Territet]] was where almost the entirety of the album was created and recorded, except for "Smoke on the Water" which had already been partly recorded at the "Le Petit Palais", formerly called "Le Pavilion". Deep Purple again returned in 1973 to record ''[[Burn (Deep Purple album)|Burn]]''. The Montreux Casino was reopened in 1975, and later a monument commemorating Deep Purple and their song "Smoke on the Water" was built along the lake shore, with the band's name, the song title, and the riff in musical notes. However, the only other memorial dedicated to the band's song that can be found nowadays in Montreux, is a small plaque placed outside the back entrance of the former [[Hôtel des Alpes-Grand Hôtel|Grand Hôtel de Territet]].

[[The Dubliners]]'s song "Montreux Monto" on their album ''Live at Montreux'' was recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1976.

[[File:View of Montreux town from Montreux railway station.jpg|thumb|250px|View of Montreux town from [[Montreux railway station]]]]

Montreux is the home of [[Mountain Studios]], the recording studio used by several artists. "[[Bonzo's Montreux]]" by [[Led Zeppelin]] is named after the city where the drums session of [[John Bonham]] was recorded in 1976. In 1978, the band [[Queen band|Queen]] bought the studio. It was then sold to Queen producer David Richards. In 2002, the Mountain Studios was converted into a bar as part of a complete renovation of the studio. David Richards has left Montreux to settle down somewhere else. Queen also appeared in 1984 and in 1986 at the Golden Rose Festival and Queen guitarist [[Brian May]] appeared in 2001 at the Jazz Festival. Montreux was also the subject of the 1995 Queen single "[[A Winter's Tale (Queen song)|A Winter's Tale]]" on the album ''[[Made in Heaven]]'', one of Freddie's last songs before his death on 24 November 1991. The album cover features the statue of Mercury beside the lake.

In 1990, the [[Wakker Prize]] for the development and preservation of its architectural heritage was awarded to Montreux.<ref>[http://www.heimatschutz.ch/index.php?id=1041&L= Swiss Heritage Society, Wakker Prize] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706233915/http://www.heimatschutz.ch/index.php?id=1041&L= |date=2011-07-06 }} {{in lang|de}} accessed 9 May 2009</ref>

The [[Fédération Internationale de Roller Sports]] was founded in Montreux in 1924. [[Montreux HC]], the oldest roller hockey club in Switzerland (founded in 1911) is based in Montreux.

The [[symphonic metal]] band [[Ad Infinitum (symphonic metal band)|Ad Infinitum]] was founded in Montreux.