Category

Arts & Culture

Category

If you’re looking for a concert or any good live music, Basel is the place to find it. It’s very welcoming to musicians of all kinds, from street musicians playing Strauss on Freiestrasse, to independent singer-songwriters at the corner café, to famed bands like Journey at Pratteln’s Z7 Konzertfabrik (Concert Factory). Here are some places you might catch a favorite artist, or discover the next big act in Basel and beyond.

Venues

Z7 Konzertfabrik

A venue for bigger names like Swiss acts Adrian Stern and Plüsch as well as international bands like Porcupine Tree and Iron Butterfly. Also features harder rock and metal bands. 

Kraftwerkstrasse 7 • 4133 Pratteln, Basel
Tel: +41 61 821 48 00
www.z-7.ch

Parterre Kultur

One of Basel’s exclusive restaurants and live music venues, Parterre features musicians and singer-songwriters from all over the world for an up-close-and-personal concert experience. Also hosts Open Mic Nights on Wednesdays.

Tram 8 to “Kaserne”
Klybeckstrasse 1b • 4057 Basel
Tel: +41 61 695 89 91
www.parterre.net

Sommercasino

Sommercasino © schoeband
A main venue for younger fans, featuring rock, punk, alternative, hardcore, metalcore, hip-hop, and ska bands from Switzerland, the US, and the UK, among others. They host free Twenty Plus-Party Tunes parties on Saturday nights for  adults 20 years and older.

Münchensteinerstrasse 1 • 4052 Basel
Tel: +41 61 313 60 70
www.sommercasino.ch
 

Kuppel

Another of Basel’s unique venues, complete with disco balls, a sparkling chandelier right above the audience, and a bright, glowing dome topping the building. The lineup is eclectic and inclusive, offering New Wave, Pop, Rock, Disco, Electro, Glam, Indie, and more. Performers include Swiss singer-songwriter legend Roli Frei and Britain’s The Drops. 

Binningerstrasse 14 • 4051 Basel
Tel: +41 61 564 66 00
www.kuppel.ch

Avo Session

THE music festival in Basel. Each year, it welcomes some of the top names of all time to its Festival Hall at Basel Fair: Mary J. Blige, Liza Minnelli, P!nk, Tom Jones, Paul Anka, and KT Tunstall to name just a few. This unique festival gives you the chance to see artists up close in a relaxed candle-lit atmosphere, and with only 1,500 seats, you may want to buy your tickets far in advance!

Festival Hall, Basel Fair
Grenzacherstrasse 79 • 4058 Basel
061 686 44 44
www.avo.ch

Stoffero

A well-known café serving up cappuccinos, sandwiches, and fresh daily specials, Stoffero also holds live music certain nights of the week. Although quite small, it’s an ideal venue for smaller and acoustic acts from all over the world. Be sure to try their famous panini!

Stänzlergasse 3 • 4051 Basel
Tel: +41 61 281 56 56

Open Air

Summer is a prime time for live music in Basel. The weather is perfect for open-air concerts, and music festivals spring up all around the country like wildflowers. On the steps by the Rhein or on the grass under the stars, you’ll hardly find even one night without music. Some events are free…although a generous tip is always welcomed.

Im Fluss

Each year from about the last week of July to the middle of August, a barge is set up on the Rhein for Im Fluss Open-air Concerts, featuring a different band each night. The concerts center around local and national acts, though some of the artists come from as far away as the UK, Canada, and the US. 
The Rhein River (Outside Café Spitz and Best Western Hotel Merian)

Rheingasse 13 • 4058 Basel
Tel: +41 61 681 80 90
www.imfluss.ch

Kaserne

One of the best known places in Basel for all varieties of arts and culture, music, theater, and dance, and a top venue in the city for summer open-air concerts. Their neighboring restaurant, the KaBar, is a popular stop for lunch, evening apéros, and ‘Snack Attacks.’ 

Klybeckstrasse 1 • 4057 Basel
Tel: +41 61 681 47 17
www.kaserne-basel.ch

Photo credit: Deer Park Avenue

Basel goes to the movies. Quite frequently! There are lots of cinemas to choose from on Steinenvorstadt, the ‘cinema street,’ complete with bars, clubs, restaurants, and shops. Many cinemas offer special member cards and cinema passes, like the Pathé Cine Pass, where you can see unlimited films at Pathé cinemas all over Switzerland for a flat monthly or yearly fee. Most theaters also give a special discount to movie-goers on Monday nights.

Photo by nchenga
Films in Basel are usually screened in German or in English with German/French subtitles (film programs will show you what versions will be screened at which times). And be prepared to take a break from your movie for a ‘Glace Pause’ when guests can go out to refreshment stands for ice cream, or else buy ice cream bars on the spot that are brought in by vendors.  

Major Cinemas

These are some of the major movie theaters in Basel showing films in English:

Pathé Küchlin
Steinenvorstadt 55 • 4051 Basel
Tel: +41 61 201 25 00
www.pathe.ch/cinema/basel/home.php

Pathé Eldorado
Steinenvorstadt 67 • 4051 Basel
www.pathe.ch/cinema/basel/home.php

Pathé Plaza
Steinentorstrasse 8 • 4051 Basel
Tel: 0900 00 40 40
www.pathe.ch/cinema/basel/home.php

Capitol
Steinenvorstadt 36 • Basel 4051
Tel: 0900 556 789 
www.kitag.com/Index.aspx (Basel site)

Rex
Steinenvorstadt 29 • 4051 Basel
Tel: 0900 55 67 89 

Studio Central Basel
Gerbergasse 16 • 4001 Basel
Tel: 0900 556 789 

Stadtkino Basel
Klostergasse 5 • 4051 Basel
Tel: +41 61 272 66 88 
www.stadtkino.ch

Kult Kinos
Kult.Kinos specialize in foreign-language and independent films, as well as timeless cult classics like ‘The Shining.’

kult.kino atelier
Theaterstrasse 7 • 4051 Basel
Tel: +41 61 272 87 81

kult.kino camera
Rebgasse 1 • 4058 Basel
Tel: +41 61 272 87 81

kult.kino club
Marktplatz 34 • 4001 Basel
Tel: +41 61 272 87 81

Summer Screenings

In summer, the cobblestone courtyard of Münsterplatz becomes a magical outdoor theater for Orange Cinema, screening the season’s hottest films in the cool of night.

You can even catch a film by the pool at Cinevision’s Kino am Pool:
Sankt Jakobs-Strasse 400 • 4052 Basel
Tel: +41 61 311 41 44
www.ed-bs.ch/jfs/sport/sportanlagen