This summer marks the premiere of Between Mountains, a new festival bringing the forward-thinking spirit of Germany’s Detect Classic Festival to Switzerland. Over one day and night, the picturesque Holdenweid estate in Hölstein, Basel-Landschaft, hosts a multi-stage event that fuses classical, electronic, ambient, and experimental music. Located at the foothills of the Jura Mountains, Holdenweid is a former psychiatric facility transformed into a creative sanctuary. Its rich history and natural surroundings create the perfect backdrop for a festival that celebrates curiosity, inspiration, and escapism through sound and space.
The vision behind Between Mountains Festival comes from conductor Baldur Brönnimann and cultural manager Felix Heri. After years of collaboration at the Basel Sinfonietta, they sought to create something new: a festival that breaks down the social and intellectual barriers of classical music and redefines how it is experienced. Inspired by their encounter with the Detect Classic Festival in Germany, they joined forces with two Detect core team members to found an association in Basel. The result: a Swiss adaptation of a pioneering concept, rooted in shared values but with its own name, identity, and landscape. Thus, the name Between Mountains came to be, which is more than a geographical reference. This is a festival about crossing divides: between genres, between audiences, between generations. At its core, Between Mountains Festival is an inclusive space – where age, origin, or identity don’t define who belongs. The program reflects this ethos through a diverse lineup of artists and performances that invite stillness, movement, reflection, and celebration.
Audiences can expect live and DJ sets from electronic and experimental artists, such as the young Dutch artist upsammy creating futuristic sounds with organic inspiration, London-born instrumentalist and producer D’Monk blending raw soul with eclectic influences, Hamburg-based Andi Otto playing electronic music with his sensor-extended cello bow, and Berlin-based synthesist and composer Eva Geist. On the more classical side, performers include versatile Slovenian cellist Ema Grčman, German pianist Kai Schumacher, as well as the Detect Ensemble. Between Mountains Festival also features a strong presence of Swiss acts, such as the Zürich-based string ensemble Turicum Quartet, youth-orchestra Junges Kammerorchester Baselland, Sevi & DJ Gudlyfe and Mumbi Kameri & BanzaiXX from Schmusi Kollektiv, and Zürich-based DJ and label-founder mishy misch, grounding the festival in its local context. From intimate performances to full-bodied dancefloor moments, the curation encourages movement between genres, spaces, and states of mind.
With a clear intention at its core, Between Mountains Festival sets out to create a space for listening, exchange, and exploration – a new kind of gathering within the Swiss cultural landscape.
Between Mountains Festival 2025
19 July – Holdenweid, Hölstein (Basel-Landschaft), Switzerland
Full line-up:
upsammy
Sevi & DJ Gudlyfe
Eva Geist
Popp Drum Trio
O/Y & KL!T
AFAR
D’Monk
Kombé & Mukuna (Somatic Rituals)
Andi Otto
Kai Schumacher
Mumbi Kameri & BanzaiXX
Ema Grčman
Molekühl
Turicum Quartet
pokka
mishy misch
Sryxo & Flo Dalton sutsche
ali dada
TrickyJones
Detect Ensemble
Junges Kammerorchester Baselland
Chicasso
Daniel Borovitzky
Dictaphone
Fögel
Hypnoe
Jacjacjackyy
Mirroring
Mo & Silvano
Oilst
RC Tecknau
Tuğba & KWEKU
Vera Schnider
More about the festival here: https://detectclassic.com/en/betweenmountains
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