With India playing the role as Guest of Honor at the 2011 Fêtes de Genève, this year’s festivities promise to be even more spectacular than ever, and will combine music, nature, water and fire to create an explosion of senses for the public.
To kick off the festivities, there will be the customary pre-festival events taking place from 21 July at the Scène des Clubs in the Jardin Anglais. A series of concerts including disco, rock, salsa and reggae will be staged until 3 August, including big names such as Gérard Lenorman, The Seatsniffers, Palatimba, les Gibsons Brothers, Patchwork, Jean-Luc Lahaye, Titanic and Kamini.
To mark the beginning of the main festival, which runs from 4 to 14 August, there will be a special opening event on 4 August, put on by the host country, India, at the Scène Elle Fitzgerald, followed by a mini fireworks display. Throughout the following 2 weeks, visitors to Geneva can enjoy an overwhelming array of events, including free musical concerts, children’s animations, fair rides, and food stalls. The India Village in the Jardin Anglais will prove particularly enticing, tempting the public with gastronomic delights and attractive craft stalls, as well as music and dance shows, portraying local folklore.
From the 5 to 7 August, there will be an exciting beach-rugby animation at the Place du Rhône, featuring a number of tournaments, covering all kinds of categories. Children, parents, companies, elected officials, and journalists will all have the opportunity to try their hand at this increasingly popular event, similar to 7-a-side rugby.
On the 6 August there will be a series of nautical events to celebrate the Fête de la Rade. Top of the list for many at this event will be the Gladiators of the Rade, a challenging occasion where the world’s best “jump-skiers” come together to demonstrate their skills when being pulled at speeds of up to 120km/h before they jump off a springboard and fly in the air 7 or 8 meters above the water’s surface, before landing as far away as possible. For the first time this year there will also be a new ski show at the end of the day where skiers will produce a series of daring jumps, free-style demonstrations and a mini water show.
The following day, on 7 August, the public are invited to take part in the 7th slowUp, an annual event which takes place not only in the urban parts of city, but also in the surrounding countryside. Using any form of unmotorized transport at their disposal, 35,000 participants are expected to complete the 27km course, which will feature food stalls offering local farm produce, competitions, tastings, relief supplies and recovery areas. There is no obligation to complete the course and participants can join and leave wherever they want at a speed that suits them! The only requirement is that everyone goes in the same direction.
“Gala Night at the Opera” is the theme for this year’s grand finale on 13 August, a spectacular fireworks display that lasts more than 50 minutes. Over 500,000 people are expected to enjoy this unforgettable evening, which features not only an amazing pyrotechnics display but also an impressive sound track, expertly synchronized with literally thousands of exploding bombs and rockets.
On the final day of the festival there will be an amusing event for the public to watch: the Café Waiters and Waitresses Race. Starting at the Baby-Plage, around one hundred professionals will set off in the direction of the city carrying in one hand three glasses and two full bottles of water. The course lasts 1.8km and this year they will be trying to beat last year’s record of 10 minutes 23 seconds!
http://www.fetes-de-geneve.ch/en/
Download mini programme
Photos courtesy of Genève Tourisme & Congrès
The “Ville de Genève" has produced two excellent brochures to help you schedule your programme of activities in Geneva this Summer.The first of these, entitled “Genève été 2011”, includes 100 pages packed with information on all kinds of interesting things to see and do in Geneva, including musical concerts, theatrical performances, and animations for children. Whilst the first few pages feature details of regular events throughout the Summer, each of the following pages is dedicated to an entire day of activities running throughout Geneva, i.e. one page for each day between 25 June and 4 September.
The last few pages include a brief look at what’s going on during the rest of September, followed by a practical section including all the telephone numbers and website addresses you might need to look up further information on specific events.
Those keen to take advantage of the vast array of exhibitions that take place in Geneva each year, will find the brochure entitled “Expositions juillet-décembre 2011” particularly useful.. Approximately 60 exhibitions are featured in the guide, each described in both French and English, and including essential contact information, as well as details of entry fees and opening hours. All the exhibitions are nicely illustrated with eye-catching photos to make this one of the most pleasant guides to read on what to do in Geneva!
Download the brochures here:
Genève été 2011
Expositions juillet-décembre 2011
Download further brochures from the Ville de Genève here:
http://www.ville-geneve.ch/publications/theme/culture/
OrangeCinema has returned once more to Geneva with a great programme of films to watch outdoors on the edge of Lake Geneva.
Starting on the 12th July and running until 21st August, the programme will include many original versions for the English speaking community such as “The Tourist”, “The Tree of Life”, “Rabbit Hole”, “Midnight in Paris, “The Beaver”, “Jane Eyre”, “Bridesmaids, “We Want Sex”, “Melancholia”, “The King’s Speech”, “Cowboys & Aliens”, and “The Guard”.
There will also be themed nights targeting ladies (4 August) and families (16 August) but these will be in French. On Family night, there is a varied programme of "distractions" for the children before the film so you are advised to come early - and there are a number of free tickets for children, subject to availability. Like last year, there will also be a UNICEF night where 10% of the proceeds will go to UNICEF, and a special Orange Night where a surprise film will be shown.
Standard tickets cost Fr. 15.- for children (-14 years) and Fr. 18.- for adults, but there are additional discounts available. Continuing the tradition of last year, Orange mobile clients who have a monthly subscription will also be able to benefit from the option of purchasing 2 tickets for the price of one. Check out this page for more details on how to apply for your free Orange CineDay ticket or click here to find out more information on standard ticket pricing and sales outlets.
www.orangecinema.ch/geneve
Map
The Tourist Office of Morges has put together an interesting and varied program of activities designed to entice people of all ages to discover their fascinating town this Summer. Choose between a walking tour, audio guided tour, a mini-train wine-tasting tour, free booklets for the kids, and Citygolf.
Free guided tours
In conjunction with the Morges Tourist Office the “Association pour la Sauvegarde de Morges”, will offer a series of free guided tours, including themed tours on Tuesdays at 10h and more general tours on Fridays at 14h30 (read on for topics and dates).
With the school holidays shortly upon us, it’s time for those of you with kids to start thinking about how best to keep them occupied throughout July and August.
For those of you not working, Summer camps may seem like an expensive indulgence, so cost will play a significant part in the choices you make. Working parents, on the other hand, will view camps as an essential part of “getting through” the Summer and many of you will be keen to vary the types of activities that your kids are involved in throughout the school break.
Fortunately, the number of organizations offering activities for kids in Geneva, Vaud, and neighboring France appears to be on the increase. All kinds of tempting courses are now available, targeting different interests and budgets. Kids have no excuse to be bored this Summer with courses dedicated to soccer, cooking, sewing, music, art, languages, and drama, not to mention the vast range of multi-sports and multi-activity camps also on offer.
