The Gstaad Menuhin Festival & Academy AG had to hold its annual general meeting scheduled for 6 April due to the federal ordinance on measures to combat the coronavirus without the physical participation of shareholders. 380 votes of a total of 1050 registered shares were represented at the postal vote.

Without further comment, they approved the minutes of the AGM 2019 as well as the annual report and the annual financial statements for 2018/2019 with a net profit of CHF 911.77. The board of directors was discharged from liability for the completed financial year 2018/2019 and the profit carried forward to new account of CHF 60,927.95 was also approved. The auditors Henchoz Treuhand AG were elected for a further one-year term of office and the existing twelve members of the board of directors, including the chairman, were re-elected.

Will the festival take place in 2020?

The Verbier Festival has been cancelled for this year, as has the Bayreuth Festival. The management of the Salzburg Festival wants to decide by 30 May whether the Summer Festival can take place or not. For the time being, the Lucerne Festival is officially still holding on to the Summer Festival.

So, what is the situation here in Saanenland? After the cancellation of the polo tournament and beach volleyball tournament, people are naturally looking with concern at the remaining major events. The chairman of the board of directors of the Gstaad Menuhin Festival & Academy AG, Aldo Kropf, explained in an interview that the team is still working to ensure the festival can run as planned. Whether or not it will eventually take place depend to a large extent on the official decisions regarding major events that are expected soon. The Federal Council wants to inform about a possible relaxation of the lockdown by today, 16 April.

Meanwhile, the festival management is discussing, analysing and calculating alternative scenarios. Could the festival possibly also be held under more difficult, reduced conditions? What about the various contractual obligations and to what extent would a forced change of plan affect the finances? If the Menuhin Festival 2020 cannot be carried out as planned due to the corona crisis, the festival management will communicate their decision, says Kropf.

Based on AvS/Çetin Köksal