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Moon&Stars is the music festival that brings the stars of pop, rock and rap, as well of tens of thousands of visitors, to Locarno. The festival’s Food&Music Street makes the atmosphere really special, with its bars, food trucks and plenty of completely free concerts. Moon&Stars is not just music and it’s not just a festival; it’s an experience to be lived to the max.
It’s July, the sun shines high in the sky and a refreshing aperitif between an afternoon swim in the lake and a late dinner calls out our name from the bar. After spending an afternoon amid the peace and quiet of the lake or pottering around the region, it’s time for some action. Although the earliest Moon&Stars evening concerts start at 6 pm, the festival always has plenty more surprises in store. The music is undoubtedly the centre of attention, but the characteristic Food&Music Street, which stretches along the entire Largo Zorzi, gets already into full swing from 4 pm. People look curiously at the menu boards of the thirty or so food trucks, bunting and fairy lights decorate the street, and free concerts take place on the stage of the Piazza Piccola.
The programme on the Piazza Grande varies from day to day, but for sure at least two concerts will take place each day (at 8 pm and at 9.45 pm). On the days when three concerts are scheduled, the first group even plays at 6 pm. Of course, the most popular concert is the one that starts at 9.45 pm, when the sun finally hides behind the mountains and Moon&Stars lights up with a thousand coloured lights. The Piazza Grande is crowded with people lit in the lights of the stage, with their hands raised in an ovation for the star of the moment, is already an incredible show! It really makes you want to be there, enjoying the music until the very end, listening to your favourite star live and discovering a new passion for an artist you’ve never heard before.
When night falls, even the Food&Music Street takes on a completely different appearance with a nightlife all of its own. And there, at the very back, the big Ferris wheel from Moon&Stars, standing out against the sky and the outline of the lake, as bright as a starry night. Seeing the city from above, with its lights and the hustle and bustle of people on the street, completes the experience of this incredible festival.
Stustainability tip: Travel comfortably to Moon&Stars with direct train connections from Zurich, Basel, Lucerne and Milan.
