Geneva Festival fireworks (photo, ©2011 Davidpc on flickr)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The Geneva Festival was a great success in 2011, pulling in more than 500,000 visitors for the Saturday night fireworks alone, says the city’s tourism office, but the downside was that the number of thefts and amount of vandalism rose. Overall, some 1.8 million visitors took part in the 10 days of festivities 4-14 August, which featured 200 free concerts, 170 food and drink stands and 75 stallholders.
The festivities closed without major incident, says the city, thanks to mediators and “the massive security arrangements deployed involving the cantonal and municipal forces,” says Geneva Tourism in a statement issued Sunday night.
“The Geneva Festival Steering Committee regrets, however, the upsurge in antisocial behaviour leading
to the destruction of infrastructures such as toilets set up for the public convenience, tags and ripping
of tents and the sabotage of generators, not to mention the theft and inconvenience carried out by an
army of pickpockets and bonneteau players. The public, the merchants as well as the guest of honour,
were all victims of these abuses. As a result, GT&C urges the concerned authorities to carefully take
these issues into consideration in order to put an end to this nuisance particularly harmful to the image
of the Geneva Festival and Geneva itself.”
India is the guest of honour at the 2011 Geneva Festival
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Prepare to eat well, if you like Indian food, with India as Geneva’s guest for the 2011 Fêtes de Genève. Workers are scurrying Wednesday 3 August to set up stalls in the city centre for the Geneva Festival, the English name for the annual city party that draws 100,000 people.
It opens Thursday with a miniature replica of the Taj Mahal in the Jardin Anglais as one of the attractions, and a fireworks display offered by the official guest, “Incredible India!”.
More than 200 concerts in four locations
Festival-goers will find scores of food and entertainment stalls along the 3 km lakefront from 4 to 13 August, in addition to the rich programme of concerts. Four concert centres have been set up, and more than 200 concerts are on the programme: complete schedule, details.
Don’t worry about the high Swiss franc if you’re from over the border, as the concerts are all free.
One of the most unusual activities this year is a programme of yoga sessions from 07:30 to 09:00 from August 5 to 14 in the lower lanes of Parc la Grange, overlooking Lake Geneva. Note that mats are not provided.
The city has also organized daily drawings for tokens to various attractions: visit www.fetesdegeneve.ch to earn tokens by voting for your favourite attraction among the 7-plus stallholders. A daily drawing will give the winner 10 tokens to use on all the attractions at the Geneva Festival.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Final tally for the Paleo open-air music festival in Nyon, which closed Sunday night: a record 62 mm of rain, 1,130 m3 of straw, 475 m3 of wood chips and 50 of gravel, to keep the fields dry enough for the music to go on. The result was 230,000 concert-goers and good ambience, say the festivals organizers.
Geneva Festival opens officially 4 August
The Lake Geneva area is now readying for its next set of summer music concerts, warming up in Geneva to the Geneva Festival, with daily concerts at the Jardin Anglais before the official opening 4 August.
La Roche Bluegrass festival kicks off 3 August
Schedule your music overload in early August! You’ll be spoiled for choices, with Europe’s largest bluegrass festival taking place 3-7 August, just as the Geneva Festival warms up, only 25 minutes from Geneva, in La Roche, Haute Savoie.
Paris opera star and classics world musical talents joined by orchestra in St Prex
The Saint Prex Classics Festival, a smaller, more intimate, top-quality music and dance festival, is the next main music festival after Geneva’s. It takes place over two weekends in what is often described as one of the most charming medieval villages along Lake Geneva, 16-28 August.
Internationally renowned musicians Philippe Jaroussky, Nigel Kennedy, Gautier Capuçon and Jérémie Bélingard head the list of performers at the festival this year, joined by Paris opera star dancer Aurélie Dupont. The festival will also host an orchestra for the first time, with the Camerata Armin Jordan, a chamber orchestra formed in 2008, mainly musicians from the renowned Suisse Romande Orchestra (OSR), playing under the direction of Benoit Willmann, a clarinettist with the OSR.
Tickets go quickly, since the concerts are small, with opening and closing night concerts already sold out: complete programme and reservations.
Parking contingency plan in place with heavy rains forecast
French singer Zaz kicks off Paleo's main stage concerts Tuesday night (photo, ©2011 Laurent Clément)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – It’s music season at the southwestern tip of Lake Geneva, with Paleo opening today, 19 July, and the Fêtes de Genève 21 July.
Paleo is welcoming its fans on the first day with cool (highs of 16C), soggy weather, but that’s unlikely to keep the crowds away: some 230,000 music fans are expected during the six-day festival. Paleo features 195 concerts on six stages and more than 200 stalls. The always popular Village du Monde features the Caribbean this year.
The festival has kept aside 1,500 tickets that will be sold every day: they are available, maximum two per person, online and at Ticket Corner.
There are no ticket sales at the festival itself.
Paleo has been encouraging festival-goers to use public transport, but the advice takes on a practical note Tuesday, with a contingency parking plan in effect due to the forecast for heavy rain. Some of the parking lots near the festival will be closed and cars will be sent to Nyon’s city centre. Extra shuttle buses are planned.
Geneva brings 60 bands to the Jardin Anglais starting Thursday
Geneva warms up to its 10-day lakefront Geneva Festival (Fêtes de Genève) that runs from 4-14 August with the preliminary part of the festival, 21 July to 3 August at the Scène des Clubs, which takes over the Jardin Anglais area. The stage is home to 60 concerts with pop, disco, rock, salsa and reggae. Artists expected include: Gérard Lenorman, The Seatsniffers, Palatimba, the Gibsons Brothers, Patchwork, Jean-Luc Lahaye, Titanic and Kamini.
The big 10-day festival, which pulls in thousands of visitors to Geneva, extends from Baby Plage to the Quai Wilson, with the fireworks in the harbour 13 August as a major attraction, but the fun includes fair rides, concerts and scores of food stalls.
The special guest for 2011 is India.
Tickets for the fireworks are still available; details on the festival web site.
Geneva's summer city centre tourist angels
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Geneva’s tourism and convention office is giving out wings this week, to a new group called Tourist Angels, whose mission from 11 July to 15 August is to help tourists.
Eight brightly clad teams of two will walk around the busiest tourist areas, mainly the waterfront, the old town in Geneva and the international organizations district, answering questions and offering help to tourists.
The service, from 10:00-20:00 daily, is designed to make the city friendlier and more welcoming during the summer weeks, especially during the Fêtes de Genève in early August, when non-stop concerts and several events attract thousands of out-of-town visitors.
The 16 angels will hand out minimal paper as an environmental gesture.
Seven tons of fireworks were used in 2010 - Photo Sean Ecker
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The crowds turned out again for the Fetes de Geneve, 2 million people flocked to the streets during the three-week festival, while an estimated half-a-million attended the firework show on Saturday 7 August.
The giant party is home to about 150 food stalls and restaurants, 65 rides and musical offers every evening.
While Geneva spends around CHF4.2 million in the organization of the Fetes, its economic impact on the City is estimated at CHF122 million, “the largest in Switzerland.”
Security continues to be good although, according to organizers, more street scams are taking place in Geneva.
The 2011 Fetes de Geneve will take place from 4 to 11 August coinciding with Ramadan which, some think, may reduce the number of visitors coming to Geneva.
Video of the spectacular firework display
Fetes de Geneve poster 2009, ©FDG 2009
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Jean-Pierre Jobin, the president of Genève Tourisme, the organizers of the Fêtes de Geneve, says that the 2009 festivities attracted over two million people, and that this year’s edition was “exceptional”, thanks in great part to the weather. The budget this year was about CHF 3 million, and the Fêtes are estimated to have brought in CHF 120m in revenues for the city and canton of Geneva.
Fetes de Geneve, photo: Sean Ecker
Fetes de Geneve, photo: Sean Ecker
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - More than 500,000 people turned out for the musical big-bangs end to the 63rd edition of Geneva’s colourful Fetes de Geneve.
The fireworks and music display, reportedly the largest in the city’s history, started at 22:00 and lasted for almost an hour.
It was a treat! Various pyrotechnical companies competed to show off their best displays. Several of the fireworks episodes had oriental themes, such as palm trees. The city increased the number of launch pads to a total of 15 around the end of Lake Geneva this year. After the fireworks display, the city was in pedestrian gridlock.
Fetes de Geneve, Geneva's annual musical fireworks show
Geneva, Locarno, Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Storms are building up and showers are promised for all areas on Saturday, not the best news for the Street Parade in Zurich or those who like to stroll around Geneve during the Fêtes de Geneve.
The good news is that skies should clear, particularly in the west, late Saturday afternoon, just in time for the big musical fireworks show in Geneva, a mustn’t miss annual event. They start at 22:00 Saturday 8 August. This year the city has added three new platforms in the lake, to the existing 12, so the show extends slightly further along the lakefront. Expect traffic, expect crowds, and find a good viewing spot early.
Take your pick: party in the Alps near Sion or on Swiss city streets
Zurich's street parade: definitely urban
Zurich and Sion, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – You have to go out of your way to avoid festivals in Switzerland in the summer, starting with the two big July music festivals, Montreux Jazz Festival and Paleo in Nyon, with several smaller but very popular festivals around the same time. The Fêtes de Geneve is underway, with music and the region’s biggest fireworks Saturday 9 August. Zurich is also holding its big party this coming weekend, the 20th year of the colourful techno Street Parade or Switzerland’s biggest rave, whose organizers say attracted 850,000 people in 2008. On a smaller scale, but also celebrating an anniversary, its 15th, the Guinness Irish Festival in Sion features the Dubliners and the Chieftains.
New Alinghi 5 on Lake Geneva 28 July, dwarfing other craft: it will sail from Lausanne to Geneva 1 August with a fleet of local pleasure boats
Lake Geneva region, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – It’s hard to beat the temperature range, 15-27C, or the clear skies that Meteoswiss is offering us Thursday to Saturday, with Geneva’s annual summer festival getting underway Thursday and the Swiss national holiday Saturday (see GenevaLunch events pages for details). Organize your picnics and barbecues for the start of the weekend because by Sunday afternoon too much of a good thing is forecast to degenerate into thunderstorms.
Photo, Alinghi: click to view larger. GenevaLunch feature on the new, high tech boat specially made for the next America’s Cup sailing race.
Fêtes de Genève, fun on the ground and in the sky
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Geneva and Switzerland’s biggest outdoor party kicks off tomorrow, 30 July, as the Fêtes de Genève get underway, after a two-week warmup called the pre-Fêtes. Music, art and food stalls in the streets, lakeside fair rides, a slow-up Sunday 2 August, spectacular fireworks Saturday 8 August: they’re all part of the fun.
And to put you in the mood the city is calling on amateur photographers to get out their cameras and start shooting their entries for the four seasons of Geneva photography contest, with tempting prizes.
Check it out on the GenevaLunch events page. Here’s where it is happening:
Title: Fetes de Geneve
Location: Geneva
Link out: Click here
Description: The traditional Geneva Festival kicks off 30 July but the “pre-fetes” or pre-fest concerts and activities start on the 16th. Food, music, carnival rides and more on the shore of Lake Geneva. The host of honor this year is the Sultanate of Oman.
Start Date: 16 Jul 2009
End Date: 09 Aug 2009
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Geneva will host a 2009 edition of the fabled 1001 nights when the Sultanat of Oman comes to town as the guest of honour for the Fêtes de Genève.
The fete, which is Switzerland’s largest tourist attraction, consists of two weeks of partying and music in the streets followed by nine days of fun fair and a giant fireworks show. The pre-fete is 16-29 July, followed by the Fêtes themselves until 9 August.
The giant party is home to 150 food stalls and restaurants, 65 rides and 120 musical offers every evening.
The 2008 Fêtes brought the city thousands of visitors, with Geneva earning an estimated CHF120 million. The fireworks over the lake are widely considered some of the best in Switzerland.
Details: city’s Fêtes de Genève web site, Tribune de Genève article
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - In a summer of capacity-crowd festivals, starting with Montreux and Nyon, Geneva officials Monday cooed over the latest success: the Fêtes de Geneve, the city’s 10-day music and fun festival, pulled in some two million people.
For the grand finale fireworks Saturday half a million people, reports RSR (Fre). The only rough spot was a glitch at the fireworks, where the jet d’eau was turned on too early, before the final splash of fireworks went off.
Geneva photographer Michel Bobillier, who publishes under the name athos99, provided the photos shown here.
Photos courtesy of athos99 (click on images to view larger). Ed. note: for the complete collection, including 145 spectacular images of fireworks and more from the Geneva festival, visit his blog photo gallery.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Michel Bobillier, whose photos of the Fetes de Geneve fireworks were published in 2007 by GenevaLunch, has made a bright and fun 120-second montage of the light show, as a warmup to this year’s show Saturday 7 August. Remind yourself why these are some of the best fireworks around, not to be missed!
Photo courtesy of Athos99: Music this week has been memorable, including a popular concert by Michel Lalanne who played to an appreciative audience only four days after surgery.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The 26-year-old American who was crowned Miss Fetes de Geneve Sunday night, and who will reign over the festivities in the city starting Thursday is called – that’s right – Geneva. She was named after her grandmother.
Photo: © athos99, reproduced with permission
photo: Michel Bobillier, 2007
Geneva, Switzerland (Athos99, Fre) – Geneva’s own Nill Klemm, lawyer and songwriter, sang his heart out in the pavillion at the Jardin Anglais to the brave souls who took on the heavy rain during the Fetes de Geneve Wednesday night. The city puts on 120 concerts during the nine-day festival.
photo: Michel Bobillier, 2007, republished with permission
Geneva, Switzerland (Athos99, Fre) – Ian Massera, one of the top Elvis Presley impersonators around, wowed the large crowd that turned out for his band’s concert at the Fetes de Geneve.
Ed. note: This is the first of Michel Bobillier’s photo contributions for GenevaLunch – view larger by clicking on the photo here and check out his web site for more great images from the concert.
"It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s the Fete de Geneve! Photo, Betsy Rumble, republished with permission.
Geneva, Switzerland (Tribune de Geneve, Fre) - The largest annual party in Switzerland, Geneva’s summer festival (Fetes de Geneve) with its 120 concerts, other events and food stalls, began Friday and benefited from warm, sunny weather over the weekend in to pull in the crowds.
A highlight was the Slowup, with 30,000 people joining in the no-motors 26 km trek. A low point was trouble at a concert in the Jardin Anglais at the start of the festival, where an online-organized protest against French rapper Doc Gynéco’s pro-French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s politics resulted in two arrests, reports the Tribune. Slowup, Fetes de Geneve, both in English
Geneva, Switzerland (Tribune de Geneve, Fre) – The fireworks for the Fetes de Geneve which kicks off Thursday were put on hold in the afternoon because of lake pollution. Heavy rains Thursday morning caused sewers in the Eaux Vives district in Geneva to overflow into Lake Geneva, causing a large patch of pollution. Boats and barges were ordered not to move in order to avoid the polluted area being displaced, while the city began to cleanup operations.
