The Morges Tulip Festival takes place every year - this year's theme is "Les pays du monde" (Countries of the World) and will be through 12 May 2024. The Parc de l'Indépendance de Morges becomes a fully flowering park where you can wander at your ease around the colorful flowerbeds boasting 140,000 flowers and around 350 varieties of tulips. This year the festival boasts its 54th edition! A spectacular view of Lake Geneva and the Mont Blanc is fronted by an abundance of flowers that will make every photo a winner.
You can now take advantage of the amazing weather among the tulips and of course the famous bulb sale mid-May (see below). The park is open daily and remember that Sunday, 12 May 2024 is Mother's Day in Switzerland.
The festival takes place on the shores of Lake Geneva, between the Château de Morges and the river La Morges. The Parc de l'Indépendance offers, in all seasons, a magnificent grassy setting and presents 50 varieties of trees such as impressive chestnut trees or giant sequoias. It is only a few meters from the historic city center, the CGN boat dock, restaurants, and shops.
The Association "Morges Fleur du Léman" organises the Tulip Festival and the Dahlia Festival every year. Along with narcissi, irises and daffodils, these are among the most beautiful flower gardens on Lake Geneva.
In addition to the colorful display of thousands of tulips in the Parc de l'Indépendance, visitors are enchanted by several oases planted with flowers, fountains and pots in the old town, in the Parc Seigneux and along the lake promenade. Admission to the Tulip Festival is free of charge and accessible to people with reduced mobility.
To get this new Lausanne guided tours business to grow, we are very enthusiastically posting this article. Ilona Horvath tells us more about the business and is even offering a pair of tickets for one lucky reader.
What has been the inspiration?
I started Sincerely Switzerland because I love Lausanne. It is a historically rich town with fascinating inhabitants, today as 500 years ago. I wish to share this love with visitors so they find out how awesome this town really is.
Have you been working on this idea forever?
The idea of creating these tours came out of necessity. For four years, I did guided tours of the History Museum of Lausanne, garnering experience and information about it. My contract was not renewed but I had all this information and this love for Lausanne. Soon I realised that I had always talked about "in this place you can see this" and "in this place you can see that". Now I get to show those places, with some of the images found in the museum.
What is the biggest obstacle you have had to overcome?
As I am starting my own business, the biggest obstacle is networking and recommendation. I am working on creating a network of people in various positions able to recommend or book my tours.
This winter leisure space welcomes the public on Quai Gustave-Ador between 17 January and 31 March 2024. Sports and wellness activities as well as musical entertainment are offered during the winter.
At La Banquise, three distinct areas are proposed: sports, wellness, and refreshment with a view of Lake Geneva to take your breath away!
The sports zone to discover Nordic sports
You can try axe-throwing for free in 5 to 10 minute sessions, depending on the number of people and the waiting time, practice mattcurling, or discover the Finnish bowling game mölkky.
A wellness area with saunas
- two wood-fired saunas
- a relaxing area in a yurt
- showers fed by lake water
- changing rooms with lockers
All photos courtesy of Catherine Nelson-Pollard
Carnaval is a tradition in most of Switzerland's cantons. Below are noteworthy Vaud, Valais, Fribourg or other Swiss hotspots with elaborate parades. Most will be wearing masks and have rituals familiar with each area. Of course there are the usual festive findings including food, drink, local specialties and crafts, Guggenmusik (costumed brass bands). Oh, and lots and lots of confetti!
In general, Carnaval covers the period between Epiphany early January and Shrove Tuesday (between 3 February and 9 March). Normally, the first day is known as Jeudi Gras (“Fat Thursday”) and the last day as Mardi Gras (“Fat Tuesday”), however many have more than one Mardi Gras!
Confetti stamps
A party atmosphere on your envelopes! These colourful special stamps lend themselves to creative stamping, putting a smile on the face of the person they’re addressed to even before they open their mail. Made in honor of Switzerland Carnaval season. With the new post office tarifs (CHF 1.20 instead of CHF 1.10) you might need to supplement exisiting older stamps when sending out your next letters!
We have listed a few cities with their CARNAVAL dates in order of start date here:
EVOLINE, VS
2-3, 9-11, 13 February 2024
Click here for more information
This is a quaint town with many traditions. Lots of events taking place as well as a meal consisting of spit-roasted boar (sanglier) on the Sunday.
BULLE, FR
2-4 February 2024
Click here for more information
The Bulle Carnival is a local tradition that involves a large number of children every year.
For more than 100 years, the town of Bulle vibrates during Carnival. To the sound of the Guggens, many animations are organised inside and out. To entertain young and old, dressed up or not.
Dressed in their finest costumes, up to 800 children take part in the grand parade on Saturday. This colourful and festive moment ends with the burning of the Winter Man. The real highlight of the festival, which traditionally marks the end of winter.
On Sunday afternoon there is a free magic show for all the family at the Town Hall. Proof that children are at the heart of the Bulle Carnival.
ESTAVAYER, FR
2-4 February 2024
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Every year, announcing the Carnival of Estavayer, the traditional Hanging of the Perch starts with a procession that leaves the Place du Midi and, to the sound of the local guggenmusik, La Staviacouac, leads the giant papier-mâché fish in front of the tower of the Dominican Sisters, where a bar opens for this day as well as for the carnival (Le Socabar). There, tea and mulled wine are offered to the population. Afterwards, a party with DJ's extends the event, in a carnival atmosphere, until late at night.
As German is the most spoken language in Switzerland and all children attending schools in the Swiss Education System are taught it, it makes perfect sense for German-speaking films to have their own festival. FILMFEST returns to the Casino de Montbenon in Lausanne for its 6th edition from 29-31 January 2024. Comprising a school program in the canton of Vaud and a program for the public, this year's festival expands its line-up to include seven films, six of which will be premièred in Romandie, in the presence of distinguished guests, filmmakers, and producers.
Initially aimed at age 15-19 students, this year FILMFEST is expanding its scope to include films to include the 12-15 age group as well. More than 4,000 students are expected from Yverdon-les-Bains to Vevey, via Lausanne, to discover the German language in a new light.
Of course, adults and the general public are more than welcome and a special program (see bottom of article) has been established. Check out our competition to win a ticket!
We caught up with Eric Flury, the president of FILMFEST, the German Film Festival held in Lausanne.
