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
