Creative biotope

WW: What concept is used to promote the Blue Balls Festival?
Urs Leierer: We do the opposite of the advertising concept of other festivals. They put the stars of their biggest acts on the poster. We have a different approach and want to give promising talents a platform. We feature an artist who is not yet so well known. This year it's Lenka, a young Australian pop artist. Beda Achermann had her photographed in New York and designed the poster and cover for the program. This collaboration began over ten years ago. He delivers up to and including the layout, I do the rest myself with the infrastructure of Lesch + Frei. In terms of advertising, we are working throughout German-speaking Switzerland with a poster campaign in the five major conurbations and advertisements with our media partners 20 Minuten, SonntagsZeitung and Das Magazin. The program booklet will also be enclosed in a partial split.

What role do sponsors play?
They play a vital and existential role. Especially with our concept, where we sell individual shows and have a large supporting program. No admission fee is charged for these art events. 30 percent of our budget is therefore sponsorship money, which supports the festival. Axa is a presenting sponsor, other basic partners are Heineken, Trojka and Smart.

How does Blue Balls compare to Montreux?
Like Montreux, we also come from the blues and have developed with other musical styles. So we are very similar in character. Our differentiation is more against the other festivals. We are a comestible store, a boutique festival in contrast to the big open airs. They are more like the big players. There, a lot of bands are whipped through over three days at a package price. We are more cultivated. Compared to Montreux, we are a bit smaller. We are also moving more towards a younger audience and stand out by not just bringing music. 70 percent is live music. We also have our annual photo exhibition with a star photographer. This year it's Ben Watts from New York. We also produce works of art live on stage with young visual artists. We have a large video lounge on the roof terrace of the KKL. Shantell Martin will be showing her sketch projections there. Every year there is also a music film. The latest film "Upside Down - The Creation Records Story" tells the story of England's most ingenious and chaotic record company. The label manager will be present in Lucerne and will take part in our talk show "Meet the Artist".

A festival radio station?
Radio is not quite right. We work cross-media and invite 200 fans into the auditorium every day via 20 minutes. I also try to get as many interesting artists as possible in front of the microphone. The "Creative Talk" is hosted by Hannes Hug. We record it and present the clip the next day on the 20 Minuten online platform and on YouTube.

Are concerts also recorded?
Swiss television and radio are media partners. They record a few selected concerts. It's no longer as easy as it was in the early days of Montreux 45 years ago. Back then, the artists thought it was super cool if they were allowed to play in front of a TV camera. Today, they want total control over their performance. It's all about money. But I don't pay any price.

How has the festival's budget developed?
The first event 19 years ago was still an insider gimmick. 40 musicians played for free, 300 visitors at 49 francs earned 14,700 francs. Now we expect 100,000 people and play for nine days around the lake basin. The budget is 7.5 million, including third-party sales.

Has the ceiling been reached?
Blue Balls means art first, money second. I don't need to grow at any price. We need a good size to get the acts. But I definitely want to stay at this size and only continue to invest in art and artists.
Interview: Andreas Panzeri

Urs Leierer

The former advertiser launched the first event in Lucerne in 1992. It has since become one of the largest music and art festivals in Switzerland. The ambience around Lucerne's lake basin with the KKL, the Pavillon Open Air and the late-night shows at the Hotel Schweizerhof make Blue Balls unique. The international festival presents 120 events over nine days: blues, jazz, soul, funk, world, rock and pop. "An important turning point, where it became bigger and more professional, was when I decided at the end of 1998 to make the festival my full-time job and quit my advertising job. That was also the point when Reini Weber offered me a home and we founded Blue Balls Music GmbH together. At the time, I was able to work as a single mask in an office at the WHS," says Leierer, who now transforms 7.5 million francs a year into art and entertainment for 100,000 fans. Atmospheric images from the festival with art on the lake and concerts on several stages. The lake basin becomes a biotope of creativity for nine days.