Spring at the beach in Perroy Thursday: time out to admire the Alps
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – This is our last official report for the season, with flowers coming out and trees budding on the Swiss plains.
It doesn’t mean, of course, that you have to stop skiing, and if we spot anything of special interest, we’ll post it on GenevaLunch. See details below for the big x-treme event in Verbier this week and a thrillling video, plus a sobering tally of mountain accidents from the Swiss Alpine Club (CAS).
It’s been a great year, with wonderful snow everywhere, so we’re putting in a bid now for the same next season!
Meanwhile, start polishing those hiking boots, for we’ll soon be moving into that kind of weather, after a spring pause to let the slopes recover.
And take a little time to step back and admire the Alps from the shores of Lake Geneva before you head up to the mountains.
Weather forecast
The temperature spread in the Lake Geneva region area as well as the northern Alps (Vaud, Valais) is 2-19C for the next four days, highs of 12-13C in resorts at 1,700 metres. Time for sun cream if you’re going to the mountains. And what a weekend in the mountains, with sunshine everywhere, occasional cloud cover, no wind and spring in the air. National weather service MeteoSwiss
Avalanche, snow reports
Steep slopes in central Switzerland, around Andermatt, have an avalanche risk of 3, but otherwise the risk is moderate, 2/5 throughout Switzerland. The WSL avalanche institute map shows snow depth still good throughout the Alps.
News
Escalade runners, Geneva, 3 December 2011 (photo, ©2011 Mr Kio on flickr)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The pre-Christmas holiday season took off running in Geneva, as it does every year with the traditional Escalade races.
The city had relatively clement weather Saturday 3 December for the runs, compared to many years.
Snow and sleet were absent and the drizzle wasn’t a freezing one.
Ed. note: we’ve created a GenevaLunch album of photos from the races by Mr Kio on flickr.
Portuguese runner Clarisse Cruz, age 33, became the first non-African woman to win the women’s race since 1998.
She finished the 4.79km race in 15’36, 7″ ahead of Kenyan Jane Muia and 14” ahead of Kenyan Caroline Chepkwony, who won in 2010.
Kenyan Paul Kipkorir won the men’s race, repeating his 2010 victory and giving Kenya 10 of the last 12 Escalade races.
The distance runner placed first with 20’45 for the 7.25 km city run, coming in 5″ ahead of Geneva’s Tadesse Abraham and 6” ahead of Kenyan Milton Rotich.
Escalade runners, Geneva, 3 December 2011 (photo, ©2011 Mr Kio on flickr)
The Escalade is celebrated from the day of the race to the city centre festival a few days later that commemorates the 1602 failed invasion of Geneva by Savoyard troops.
Costumes, Mère Royaume’s piping hot soup served in the Old Town and marmites, little three-legged traditional soup pots made out of chocolate and filled with treats, will replace this Sunday’s runners, and snow is reported to be on the way. Expect the same cheerful holiday crowds. Details, Geneva Tourism
Tourists and cell phone cameras capture the jet d'eau in Geneva 22 November
Keeping the dog safe from the leaves, canton Vaud, lakefront, 3 November
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Expect rain this weekend around Lake Geneva, with gentle temperatures of 11-13C and autumn colours remaining unless the rainfall becomes too heavy.
Canton Valais will be spared much of the rain, with warm foehn winds blowing hard and raising temperatures to 18-19C.
The weekend kicks off the November-December pre-holidays boom in events in the region.
The Leman Expat Fair is a popular introduction to the area for newcomers with information about local services for old hands as well. Lausanne has an arts and crafts fair and its Scottish Church is holding its pre-Christmas bazaar. Schilliger Garden Centre is open extra hours with its magnificent Christmas displays.
Check out the complete editor’s selection of events in the region on the GenevaLunch events page!
It’s also the start of the glamorous charity events season, with the big Geneva Charity Ball kicking things off 18 November. The high-octane event is selling tickets to the public; this year’s recipients are Clair Bois, Paidos, SOS Children’s Villages and The World Youth Education Trust.
Vinea wine festival, Sierre
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Temperatures are inching back up this weekend, with highs of 28C expected, but the warmer weather will bring some thundershowers with it in French-speaking Switzerland.
Central Switzerland is more likely to be dry and sunny, so if you’re up or hiking, head for Interlaken or Lucerne.
GenevaLunch will be publishing some suggestions for Swiss mountain hiking tomorrow, Friday 2 September. We will also publish a guide to visiting Vinea (see below).
Be sure to check out the GenevaLunch events calendar for a good weekend selection.
Two top alternatives for the weekend are:
- the Vinea wine festival in Sierre, Switzerland’s largest outdoor wine fair, with 150 producers from throughout the country presenting 1,500 wines, at an event that turns the main street of Sierre into a stream of white tents with a congenial crowd of 10,000 wine-lovers. Complete programme and details, Vinea (in English)
- Saturday, 3 September the Chateau de Chillon is offering a special astronomy observation event for CHF10 with special entrance price for children: a teleconference at 20:15 with astrophysicist Sylvia Ekstrom from the University of Geneva, in French, will be followed by an observation of the skies, with access to special instruments, at the foot of the castle: info@chillon.ch or telephone 021 966 8910 to register.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Are you a gas-burning road hog who loves festivals and concerts? You might have to change your ways this summer, with environment and sustainable development the buzz words for Swiss festivals.
Montreux Jazz Festival, keeping an eye on electricity consumption (photo: Odile Meylan)
Montreux Jazz Festival, which runs to 16 July, is the first of the big summer festivals and it provides details about its environmental efforts on its web site. The MJF notes that it’s been given the Green ‘n Clean award from Yourope, which awards festivals that actively work to protect their impact on the environment.
Montreux turns on the lights, turns down the consumption
Two measures the MJF cites are its work with Alpiq to provide very low consumption lighting for Le Jardin and its work with e-covoiturage to reduce the number of cars coming to the festival.
Walk! World’s largest sports event encourages us to use our legs
The giant multicultural, multi-event Gymnaestrada, which has brought 20,000 gymnasts from around the world to Lausanne this week, said loud and clear at the outset that its sustainable charter was being given top priority. Walk to the events, as a starting point, it tells visitors.
Green festivals: a balancing act (photo, Gymnaestrada, 11 July group events)
The event increased the population of Lausanne by 20 percent overnight, creating rubbish and other problems, the organizers notes.
It details its green efforts on a web page, which at the end puts the onus on you and meet to make the charter work: “Help us to make this idea of sustainable development a reality! On a daily basis, travel sensibly, eat healthily, sort your rubbish and switch the lights off after you. From now on, you can support the WG-2011 by calculating your carbon footprint and committing to reduce it!”
Gymnaestrada runs until 16 July.
Paleo pushes festival-goers to reflect on transport
The Paleo Festival in Nyon opens 19 July and it will pull in more than 230,000 people by the time it ends 24 July. Paleo sent out a newsletter Tuesday 12 July about its efforts to push concert-goers in the right direction: greener travel.
The CFF rail company offers 20 percent off to anyone who goes by train, and online car-sharing options work for both Switzerland and France. RouteRank, newly improved, is a great way to find the best options for getting from your place to Paleo, and to find out your environmental impact in the process.
St Prex Classics, small is beautiful but also gentler on the environment
A late summer festival, the newly renamed St Prex Classics, takes another approach to the environment by keeping things manageable: 10 concerts over two weekends in intimate surroundings in the lakeside old town (Vieux Bourg) of St Prex (two are in Morges, this year only). The concert, now in its fifth year, runs from 16-28 August.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The Chinese Communist Party was established 1 July 1921 and today is arguably the most successful Communist Party in the world, but it remains subject to heavy criticism from outside the country over several issues. China is celebrating this week with a series of events for the Party faithful as well as for the public, the culmination of months of planning.
Chinese media are praising the government’s record since the Communists took power in 1949, but also focusing on the problem of corruption and efforts to reduce it. Xinhua, the state news agency, carries an article about the government’s corruption watchdogs, which harks back to the days when the population was closely watched by local officials.
Foreign media are pointing to more negative aspects, with the BBC noting that celebrations are accompanied by the authorities’ “their biggest crackdown against dissidents in almost 20 years”, while Bloomberg attributes a rise in young members to elitism: “added 1.24 million university students as members last year, an 8.2 percent increase from 2009. Founded 90 years ago today to build a socialist Utopia for the laboring classes, the party has become a ticket to elite jobs in government and state-owned businesses that offer security, power and a path to wealth.” An audio tape from NPR‘s Morning Edition in the US to be released at 09:00 Eastern Daylight Time there will recount one official’s efforts to fight corruption.
Even leftist Liberation in France contents itself with an article, far from the front page, about how residents of Chongqing were being asked to learn revolutionary songs, long forgotten, for the celebrations.
Links to other sites: Euronews, Wall St Journal blog
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – For those who can’t get enough of the next royal wedding, the one Friday in London, here are a few details of what to expect if you’re in Switzerland:
- various private groups will have their own showings, usually in pubs, so beware that your favourite pub, such as the Pickwick in Geneva, might be closed to the general public (the British Residents Association has that one reserved – you can still reserve Tuesday 26 April, if you’re quick)
- swissinfo reports that Karin Herzog cosmetics, a Swiss line, has seen sales climb 20 percent since the start of April, when it was revealed that Kate Middleton has used their products for several years
- Camilla, the step-mother of Prince William, will plant a tree called “Wedding Cake” to commemorate the marriage, reports the BBC
- one man could win £72,000 if Kate wears the George III tiara that has graced royal heads, including Queen Elisabeth at her own wedding, according to the Telegraph
- Winston Churchill’s favourite champagne will be served to guests: Pol Roger, according to Decanter magazine, says the Independent
- need a wedding biscuit tin and royal mugs if you’re visiting friends to watch the extravaganza together? Try Jim’s British Market in St. Genis
- key detail, where to watch it: online, on The Royal Channel, on YouTube and if you have access to it, on British television or, in Switzerland
William Mountbatten-Windsor, Catherine Middleton
And if you still don’t know what we’re talking about, the wedding will unite Kate Middleton, commoner, and Prince William, second in line to the British throne, Friday 29 April starting at 11:00 at Westminster Abbey in London, with 1,900 guests and 5,000 police, thousands of special wedding parties around town and millions expected to watch on television and via the Internet. Weather forecast: 80 percent chance of showers.
British royal family wedding site
Links to UK media’s special wedding pages: BBC, Financial Times, Guardian, Independent, Sky, Telegraph, Times (subscription)
Here’s your very own invitation, compliments of the British royal family:
Hot air balloons in different shapes will fly at the 5th Geneva International Montgolfiades (photo, Geneva Tourism and Conventions)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Geneva’s sunny spring skies will be host to the 5th Geneva International Montgolfiades 8-10 April, when renowned crews from nine European countries will fly their balloons for three days in the event organized by Geneva Tourism and Conventions.
This year, new uniquely-shaped balloons will also feature.
The International Montgolfiades have been a tradition in Geneva since 2004, when the festival designed to offer springtime fun was created.
Thrity-six crews are taking part in 2011, with some famous names making an appearance, including French Pierre Frachon, a direct descendant of the Montgolfier brothers, and the Swiss winners of the 2010 Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett.
The Geneva Montgolfiades is a “fiesta” and not a competition, the tourism office points out.
Geneva parks will offer closeups of preparations, takeoffs
Only the crews will be able to fly in the balloons, but the public will be able to enjoy watching skies coloured by the more traditional balloons as well as a rooster, a caterpillar, a robot, and an acrobatic clown.
The public can see the balloons being prepared for flight in several of Geneva's parks (photo, Geneva Tourism and Conventions)
The balloons will prepare to take off at the Centre sportif de Vessy Friday 8 April between 07:30 and 13:00, and in the Bertrand, Bastions, Mon-Repos, Eaux-Vives and La Grange parks on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 April.
The public will be able to view their departures from the parks.
Hot air balloons will dot the sky in Geneva the weekend of 8 April (photo, Geneva Tourism and Conventions)
Geneva’s own balloon, carrying the local colours and cantonal motif, will take off in front of St Peter’s Cathedral around 14:30 on Saturday 9 April.
Public given chance to talk to pilots
The public can ask the balloon pilots questions and participate in competitions at a Geneva Tourism and Congress stand at Place du Molard Friday and Saturday.
Jump for Japan in Geneva, photo, Mr Kio: www.flickr.com/photos/igievil/
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - La Chaîne du Bonheur, a Swiss organization that collects funds for several non-profit aid agencies, has collected CHF5.13 million for Japan in one week, it said Thursday 24 March. The money is distributed to four members of the “chain”: ADRA, the Salvation Army, Caritas and the Swiss Red Cross, all of which work with local partners.
The money is being used to distribute drinking water, hot meals, food, kitchen utensils, covers and tents to people in shelters that have been set up in the two weeks since Japan was hit by a 9-point earthquake.
Several smaller efforts to raise money to help victims of the earthquake are being made in the area. Jam for Japan, for example, has 11 bands playing in 4 bars in Geneva Friday night 25 March to raise funds for Japan.
Lausanne musicians are holding a fundraising concert 30 March.
Mr Kio, a GenevaLunch photographer, captured “boys in Geneva doing parcours”, and calling it Jump for Japan, to raise money for Japanese earthquake victims.
Jump for Japan in Geneva, photo, Mr Kio
Jump for Japan in Geneva, photo, Mr Kio
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Let is snow, let it snow, preferably on our turf! Frankfurt and Paris were snowed in, but the sad news for skiers in Switzerland 10 December is that the snow that fell last week in the Jura has turned to mud, and the Alpine ski resorts are still waiting for the big snowfalls to arrive. You have a few more days to continue your pre-season warmup exercises and to reflect on safety on the slopes.
Weather forecast
Sun today! The first village house to get warm rays, canton Vaud 9 December
Temperatures are expected to go no higher than 2C throughout the Lake Geneva region this weekend, with sunshine alternating with partly cloudy skies. Expect resorts in Valais to have the same weather, but if you are longing to get warm, head for Ticino, where temperatures will reach 15C.
Alpine and Jura resorts updates
Shirley Curran writes from the Jura resorts area that “sadly, after last Saturday’s memorable start to our ski season where we were skiing with feather-light powder up to our knees, not a cloud in the sky and no crowds, this week’s torrential downpours and high winds have blown or washed away most of the Jura snow. The lifts will not be operating this weekend. However, they will be running every day from 18 December. You can keep up to date with information and webcams at montsjura.com.”
Several resorts in the Alps are offering reduced fares and special family offers. Sierre-Anniviers, which groups together several medium-sized resorts above the lakeside town of Sierre, including family-friendly Zinal and Vercorin, has a new special deal for parents. It allows a couple to share one ski-pass, for parents who are alternating taking care of children. It’s valid only in low season, basically January and March, but offers a good practical solution for many couples with small children or babies.
Anzere has a very good deal for this weekend, 11-12 December: CHF10 for kids and CHF20 for adults for a day pass, or CHF15/20 for two days, well below the season day pass price of CHF47. Slopes open for the season 17 December. Children up to age six are free and families of four get a 10 percent discount.
Verbier has put together an information page on parking and public transport, with useful emergency numbers, part of the effort to encourage skiers to be a bit greener.
On the lakefront, Geneva remembers a glorious moment from its past, and eats chocolate
Swiss snow forecast, road alerts, Anzere traffic change, kids’ competitions this winter
La Loge at Crozet, Jura, 24 November 2010 (photo, Jean Charles and Pauline Cusin)
Update 13:20 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - It’s official: time to pull out those skis and head for the Jura slopes, or tuck up inside and light a fire, because this weekend will be cold and wintry. MeteoSwiss (see GenevaLunch weather pages) is predicting highs of 1 to 2C throughout central and western Switzerland, with sun alternating with snow.
New booklet helps winter sports fans shift to public transport
Leisure time activities account for a hefty part of road use in Switzerland. ATE, Association Transport & Environnement, has just published an excellent guide to using public transport for winter sports, with details for the time it takes, how to best get there, equipment rental and more for each Swiss resort. The guide is an excellent resource and good addition to the information available about winter sports (Fre, Ger, Ita).
Winter roads: reminder from Vaud that conditions can dictate legal speed
If you don’t yet have your winter tires on the car, don’t delay, as snow as low as the plains makes for slippery driving, Canton Vaud’s highway department reminds drivers they are legally obliged to drive at lower speeds when road conditions, such as ice and snow, call for it.
Cantonal road authorities say they replenished their stock of salt this summer, but if the winter is a tough one, supplies in Europe are likely to run short.
Road clearing times, list of Vaud closed roads
Tens of imported beers – in bottles and tab, children’s activities, music and more in this Swiss festival. (No wonder the Swiss imported 90 million liters of beer in 2009!).
Location: Le Landeron, Switzerland
Link out: http://www.fdlb.ch/Fete_de_la_Biere/Bienvenue.html
Start date: 12 Aug 2010
End date: 14 Aug 2010
P. Chappatte, and 8 Kenyan illustrators’ drawings of Swiss President Doris Leuthard.
Location: Morges, Vaud
Link out: http://www.morges-sous-rire.ch/salon.php
Start date: 1 Aug 2010
End date: 29 Aug 2010
A day of crazy outfits, techno music and make up. Geneva as you may never see it again!
Location: Geneva
Link out: http://www.lakeparade.ch/lakeparade_presse.php
Date: 10 Jul 2010
Wild winds on Lake Geneva Thursday afternoon created beautiful streaks of colour (photo: obwoodman on flickr, reproduced with permission)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The weather will get a bit warmer every day and there are so many things to do you’ll have a tough time deciding. Welcome to early summer, that season when the pools are open but the kids are still in school, the big music festivals haven’t yet kicked off, World Cup fever is still limited to speculation, and our friends haven’t dispersed to far corners of the world for vacation.
GenevaLunch tips to get the most out of the weekend
- be sure to check the weather forecast on our weather page, for Geneva and Zurich (maps for all of Switzerland)
- our events calendar is bursting at the seams, so look there to see what’s going on in the Lake Geneva region now, and to plan ahead, for example for a summer’s worth of fun in Lausanne
- head for a great cafe and do one of our new crosswords by local crossword designer Chalicea, whose other work is published internationally (you can do them online or print out and do them by hand)
- enjoy our blogs, which give you another view of life in the region, and note that we’re opening up our food blog, now called Savouring Switzerland, to a group of writers.
Vines blossoming in Aubonne 20 May
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The weather is finally starting to warm up, and if you’re not yet checking our new five-day forecasts from the national weather service, you can find them on our new weather page. This is the big Open Days for wines in Vaud: don’t miss our guide and suggestions for wineries to visit.
And if wine is not what you’re after, there is plenty more to do, so check our very popular events listings, the editors’ picks! Enjoy the sun.
Notice something different? Find out more!
GenevaLunch has a fresher look and some new features, with more to come in the next few days. The site is faster as well, part of our efforts to make your visit enjoyable and informative. Read the details on the editor’s blog: Editor’s Notepad.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Ticket information update:
Paleo will feature Southern African artists in 2010, a nod to football’s World Cup, inlcuding Ubuhle Be Afrika.
Paleo Festival in June in Nyon, 20-25 July
Tickets were promptly sold out Wednesday noon 21 April, the first sales day, for everything but Tuesday night! Tickets for Sunday, the hottest night, went in 15 minutes and for the other nights within two hours. Paleo’s sale pitch for the remaining night: “The Tuesday night will swing between hip-hop and rock with, on one hand, the mythical French NTM and the inventive N*E*R*D and, on the other, the bruising rock of rock’n'roll legends Iggy and the Stooges and the Frenchman Saez, incisive and engaged.”
Paleo does a great job of fighting the ticket scalping problem with the Paleo bourse, starting 5 May, where you can buy or sell tickets at a fair price. This is also where you can get tickets for the Tuesday shows. And 1,500 tickets go on sale every morning at Paleo for shows that night, so there is always a last-minute chance to get tickets.
Geneva Servette Hockey Club versus SE Bern in the finals
Thursday 22 April in Geneva
Tickets sold out within two hours Wednesday morning to Thursday’s (22 April) sixth game in the best-of-seven series, so the ticket windows won’t be open at the Vernets ice rink.
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – “Inside Switzerland”, which was started in 2007 as a glossy Swiss-wide magazine providing news and features in English, has ceased publication of both the quarterly print magazine and its online newsletter. The magazine was published by Schweizer and Davies Media in Zurich, which was founded by Jennifer Davies and Sabine Schweizer.
Davies is an arts presenter on World Radio Switzerland.
Editor-in-chief Schweizer notes in her letter to readers that the publication “has not been able to withstand current financial pressures.”
The quarterly print publication sold for CHF35 for four issues before it folded.
Beaver Creek, Colorado, USA (GenevaLunch) - Swiss Graubuenden skier Carl Janka pulled off the unusual feat of winning three events in one weekend at Beaver Creek, adding the giant slalom event Sunday to his Friday and Saturday downhill and super combined wins. The 23-year-old was bowed to by the last man to take three World Cup races in a row, Aksel Lund Svindal, who did it 2.5 years ago.
Swiss Alps: a fine day ahead
Swiss sheep, canton Valais, May 2009, before a summer on top of the mountain
Update 09:00 Saturday 10 October Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The warmest October day since 1910 was a treat earlier this week, with temperatures staying above 10C even at night and rising to 30C (Meteoswiss explains why, in French).
Good weather ahead in the Lake Geneva region
A day of rain in the Lake Geneva area Thursday cooled things down and the leaves have begun to fall, but the weekend promises a good dose of fine weather, mixed with occasional showers. At 09:00 Saturday morning it is raining everywhere in Switzerland, it appears, but the forecasters are still promising it will mostly disappear and we’ll have sunshine: have faith!
It’s relatively warm, with temperatures rising to 18C, perfect for outdoor markets, planting new wild grasses, just reading a suspenseful novel in a sunny spot, cooking up a storm with seasonal foods, or hiking through the vineyards.
What’s on in Geneva and Lausanne, the rest of the region
Sunday is Expat Expo in Geneva, the second of the region’s two big fairs with exhibitors and more, for the English-speaking population. Head out of town, under two hours from Geneva, to watch the sheep come down from the high alps, in Champéry Saturday morning. Head for the circus Saturday night: the famous Swiss Knie circus has started its 2009 programme on the lakefront in Lausanne.
Be sure to check the GenevaLunch events pages for what’s on throughout the region (click on a date on the calendar to see full display).
Title: “Fatal Emploi”, theatre
Location: Coppet
Link out: Click here
Description: Murder mystery theatre, in French, tickets CHF95-100
Start Time: 19:30
Date: 09 Oct 2009
Click on image to view larger
lakefront, Saint Prex, August 2009
Saint Prex, Vaud, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Prepare for a weekend of 18-25C temperatures and sunshine alternating with some cloud cover – a change from this week’s sweltering heat, with Geneva recording its hottest day of the year, over 36C, Thursday 20 August. But before the great Saturday and Sunday weather, prepare for late Friday highs closer to 30C and local thunderstorms with wind whipping up in some areas. MeteoSwiss map and forecast
Weekend entertainment highlights: St Prex Festival starts, wine & chocolate for the family in Romainmotier and music at dawn in Geneva
This is the final week-end before Vaud students return to school and among the week-end entertainment offers featured on the GenevaLunch events page is the Saint Prex Festival which takes place in arguably one of the prettiest villages along the lake (also the home of GenevaLunch). The festival opens Friday evening 21 August and runs to 29 August.
Title: Summer concerts in Annemasse
Location: Annemasse, neighbouring France
Link out: Click here
Description: Every Saturday evening enjoy jazz at the Fantasia Park in Annemasse. The city of Annemasse is only a train stop away from trams 12, 17 and 16 from Geneva. Shows begin at 17:30.
Start Date: 16 Aug 2009
End Date: 29 Aug 2009
Title: Music at dawn
Location: Geneva
Link out: Click here
Description: Wake up, early, really early, and head to the Bains des Paquis to listen to music at dawn. The one hour concert begins at 06:00 (6 am that is).
Start Date: 03 Aug 2009
End Date: 13 Sep 2009
Title: The Saint-Germain summer concerts
Location: Geneva
Link out: Click here
Description: In the heart of Old Town, a series of free classical music concerts. Every Sunday and Monday through 7 September.
Start Date: 03 Aug 2009
End Date: 07 Sep 2009
Val d'anniviers, Valais, Switzerland (look for the cat's shadow)
Saint Prex, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Saturday 1 August is Switzerland’s national holiday, a time when the Swiss like to return to their families’ hometowns, and with fine weather forecast, expect trains, planes and roads to be busy starting Friday, as people take long weekends off work.
Tips for the Swiss holiday, road alerts, last-minute travel plans
Title: Swiss National Day
Location: Switzerland
Link out: Click here
Description: Celebrations of the Swiss National Day are usually organized at the municipal or village level.
The most complete listing of celebrations across Switzerland can be found at the official website of the Swiss National Tourist Office. Many events are posted in English but you’ll find more events if you search in French or German.
Find out how the Swiss celebrate it and why in GenevaLunch’s news section.
Enjoy the holiday.
Date: 01 Aug 2009
© Paleo Festival
Vernier, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Major sports and cultural events draw 9 million people each year in Switzerland and can have an important negative impact on the environment, says the Swiss section of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), in a report released 24 June. Events such as Nyon’s Paleo Festival and the ski marathon in Engadin, canton Grisons, make a concerted effort to reduce that impact, the report says. They encourage public transport to the venue, use power from renewable sources, provide bio-degradable containers for food, and bio foods among other things. Other events that come at the top of the list of the ecologically-minded are the St. Gallen Openair, the Lucerne marathon, and the OrangeCinema in Bern, Basel, and Zurich. The Orange openair cinema in Geneva’s Genève-Plage area was not evaluated because they did not reply to the questionaire sent out to the event organizers, Walter Vetterli, spokesperson of WWF, Switzerland told GenevaLunch.
