Zürich: Friday, 30 May 08 – Sunday, 1 June 08

Christopher Street in West Village, New York is one of the key places when it comes to Gay rights history in the US.

So it gets celebrated across the world, well at least in Berlin and Zurich, both of which also host highly successful love parades.

One thing about Zurich though, is that despite its banker image, there’s always an excuse for a party. And CSD is just that. 

One of the highlights is a parade through the city street party on Turbinen-Platz, which is located in the booming Zürich-West quarter.

Doesn’t stop there though.

After the street party, the action moves to the Rohstofflager and X-TRA.

To recover, on Sunday, there’s brunch for all at the Zeughausareal. Tram 3 or 14 to Sihlpost.

The event has attracted sponsors like British Airways, Kronenbourg and the main ZH BMW dealer, so they must be doing something right.

www.csdzh.ch

Photos: Flickr  ssinyagin, 404

Post from: The Switzerland Traveler

It’s easy to know when winter is over in Zürich. Just ask whether the snowman has been burned yet.

I’ve not worked out exactly how the timing of the festival works, I assume it’s linked to Easter, but this year Sechseläuten falls on April 14th. It’s always a Monday.

A children’s parade on Sunday, and a march through the streets by the merchant guilds on Monday are preludes to the main event – the burning of the Böögg.

The Böögg is the snowman who will determine what sort of summer we will have.

The faster he burns, the better the summer, so recently there has been a distinct smell of petrol in the background…

The festival’s name, Sechseläuten, means six bells ringing, which should give you a clue that the burning takes place at six in the evening.

The bonfire is located at Bellevueplatz, and the parades take place along the shores of the River Limmat.

If you live in or near Zürich, it’s something you should probably visit at least once. After all, it’s a public holiday, well a half holiday…

Photos: Flickr – rgot

Post from: The Switzerland Traveler

Zürich’s Carnival runs from Feb 8th through to Sunday 10th, so here’s a quick reminder.

Main events: Fixed party tent at the Hirschenplatz, for Caribbean music and the usual brass Güggemusik.

Parade; Sunday 10 Feb 14:30. Hirschenplatz is not a bad place to start.

Children’s Carnival: focuses mainly around the Rathausbrücke

For a list of restaurants and bars taking part, try http://www.zuerichcarneval.ch/fasnachtsbeizen.htm

Post from: The Switzerland Traveler

Next, from jgraham, a photo at Zurich main station. I esecially like this as I had to catch the train to Geneva from this platform on Monday.

Seems some people are reacting against Euro 2008, months before it even starts, I have to say, the adverts are getting a bit wearing, I mean, it’s not like we don’t know it’s coming…

And finally a photo, courtesy of julie, from our trip to Kanton Schwyz this weekend, or was it Madison County?

Post from: The Switzerland Traveler

I know I mentioned Fasnacht a couple of weeks ago, but one of the big ones starts this Thursday, and if you are in Switzerland, you might want to go along and see it.

Fasnacht is an amazing carnival, where strangely dressed people play music to blow away the winter.

This year, Fasnacht in Luzern runs from Thurs 31st Jan to Tuesday 5th Feb.

Two parades are planned, One on Thursday, one on Sunday. Both begin at 14:00 The route of the parade runs from Luzernerhof – Schweizerhofquai – Schwanenplatz – Kapellplatz –  Fritschibrunnen –  Seebrücke – Bahnhofplatz – Pilatusstrasse – Viktoriaplatz – Hirschmattstrasse – Waldstätterstrasse (although Kapellplatz – Fritschibrunnen is missed out on Sunday.

Alternatively, wander round the restaurants and bars looking for the *Dekoriert" signs, which tells you a party will be going on.

Don’t be surprised if someone asks you to buy a badge to support the carnival though, and I’d recommend you do – otherwise you are likely to find yourself covered in confetti!

Photos: somebox, Mark and Allegra

Post from: The Switzerland Traveler

Easter is early this year, and so, therefore, is Fasnacht.

Literally, Night of the Fast, it represents time to go mad (that’s my interpretation) before the fasting period of Lent kicks in.

That’s the theory, except of course it wouldn’t be much fun if all the parties were on the same night – like you have to have at New Year. So the pragmatic Swiss arrange to have their pre-Lent festivals at slightly staggered times.

And it’s a family occasion (thus qualifying for our b5 theme day) so everybody can dress up.

Typically there will be an Umzug, or parade, for children on the Sunday, when the little ones get to paint their faces, dress up in crazy costumes – which have to be warm, this is winter remember, and throw confetti over any adults they pass in the street.

The adults on the other hand, have two approaches to Fasnacht:

One involves being incredibly serious, often with a political context. For example this year there has been a massive outcry about racism and a certain political party, and I wouldn’t mind betting that black and white sheep (because of their advertising campaign) will feature heavily in some parades.

But the Fasnacht that I love tends to happen in the evenings through to the early (or late) morning. Again, wild costumes feature, but these are fun, incredibly detailed and intricate, and worn by people marching through the streets playing drums, pipes and brass instruments.

I would have to use the term music loosely, but Guggemusik is a genre on its own, and has to be heard to be believed. Think  loud, and slightly out of tune – I often think it’s a race to see which member of the band can finish first. After all, there are drinks in the bar at stake.

As you can see, the effort taken is immense. And as the whole of Fasnacht covers most of February, there really is time to involve the whole family.

Ask me if you need dates for a particular region.

Photos: shirasade, kelko, technicolor

Post from: The Switzerland Traveler

OK, I’ll admit that I couldn’t resist it. You all seem to love cows so much that I’m pandering to your wishes by telling you about the next bovine event in the calendar.

Each year various towns and villages in Switzerland celebrate the return of their beloved cows from the rich mountain pastures.

It gets a bit chilly up in the hills in winter, and the cows don’t like snow that much, so in the autumn the cows and farmers come down to the huts in the villages. The event is invariable celebrated by dressing up;  the farmers in traditional blue smocks, and the cows are decorated with bunches of mountain flowers. And ludicrously large bells.

This weekend, the ceremony of choice takes place at Küblis, near Landquart (which those of you who have skied at Davos or Klosters may recall is where you leave the motorway if you are driving to the resort).

But it’s not just cows, oh no. There are family fun events, such as a market for alpine products (cheese, sausages and dried meat – a local speciality) a bob run, and lots of small animals for children to play with, all accompanied by the sound of alp horns.

And then there are the sheep, who also like to get in on the act. More cheese, and a shepherd’s bar will delight, but the highlight will undoubtedly be the sheep shearing competition on Saturday at 13:00.

If that’s not enough, then relish the selection of the Alpine King or Queen, determined by various competitions (obstacle course, juggling with walking sticks, whipping cream etc).

If you go, please let me know how you get on – I don’t think I can face the excitement!

The fun starts on 4th October and runs until Sunday 7th. Full details and picture credit: http://www.alpspektakel.ch/

Post from: The Switzerland Traveler

Next weekend sees another big party come to Zürich. Freestyle.ch is Europe’s biggest freestyle sports event. Covering snowboard, free-style skiing, skateboards and FMX (I assume that’s something to do with little bikes) the top stars from each sport will be competing for the top USD 100,000 prize.The action all takes place at Landiwiese, on the south side of the lake. I caught part of the action last year, by accident(!) and everything takes place in a relaxed party atmosphere, especially if the weather is behaving itself. Currently the forecast doesn’t look too bad, although we aren’t expecting blazing sunshine.Nightime sees a series of bands and DJs performing, with music ranging from lounge, through hip hop to hardcore techno. As I struggle to differentiate house from garage I won’t give any recommendations, I’m guessing that if you are into that kind of thing then you know what you’ll like. Check out www.freestyle.ch for more info as to what’s on where.Other attractions include film events, such as premier of Optimistic? a film related to climate change and the effects it will have on snowboarding.Tickets are available for each day seperately or as a three day pass.

Post from: The Switzerland Traveler