August 1: Local brunch, yodeling and concerts on the menu

In the City of Geneva, Christina Kitsos presented on Monday the program of the national holiday of August 1sta highlight of his year as mayor. The “highlight” of the day will be a brunch – free, upon registration, limited to 500 places available – in the Parc des Eaux-Vives, which will showcase local products.

“The theme of my year as mayor is what binds us together. And what binds us together is also the terroir, our relationship with the land,” explained the mayor of Geneva. We promise that we will only taste Geneva products: from vegetables to charcuterie, honey, eggs, yogurts and fruit juices. Not to mention wine and beer (but they will be paid for).

No Patry, no party

“The city cannot live without the countryside, and vice versa,” stressed the director of the Union maraîchère, Xavier Patry, also present in front of the press on the terrace of the Villa La Grange. “The divisions that have existed are completely inappropriate. Thank you to the City for having understood this,” he added, in allusion to last year’s controversy. The environmentalist Alfonso Gomez had then trumpeted his desire to reduce the stands offering meat, sparking the ire of breeders.

This time, appeasement seems to have guided the choices. The poster for August 1, 2023 showed only a tiny Swiss flag? This year’s has three. Elegant, it is the work of designer Léonie Bischoff.

Switzerland makes multiple appearances on the program. A “journey into traditions”, according to the two co-organizers, the event agency Ola Production and the Shap Shap association. While some stops are among the must-sees, such as the lantern parade or the Alphorn demonstrations, others are more unique in the City of Calvin: wrestling matches, hornuss (a traditional sport practiced in particular in the Bernese Emmental), or even an introduction to Appenzell dances.

The President of the Appenzell Ausserrhoden government, Yves Noël Balmer, will be one of the two guests of honour. He will present himself as an ambassador for a group of yodeling singers and bell ringers. To get them to come, it took a lot of persuasion. “They don’t usually travel. They are involved in the community life of their valley,” says Eric Linder, artistic director of Ola Production.

For young and old

The festivities will begin at 3 p.m. with children’s workshops on the theme of Switzerland, free play with different objects under the sponsorship of the house of creativityand giant games set up by the ludobus.

Older visitors will be offered performances of K-pop, Korean pop, street art, as well as training workshops by local DJs.

On the musical front, local figures will have their say starting in the late afternoon at La Grange Park. In the evening, the Ella Fitzgerald stage will host a duo of Colombian artists, Orito Cantora and Jenn del Tambó, the Geneva group Roshâni and the Red de Tamboreras de Suiza. “It’s very diverse, but that’s what we wanted. To have an opening to Switzerland and the world,” notes Mélanie Rouquier of Shap Shap.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, will also be a guest of honour at the 1^is August. A way, according to Christina Kitsos, to “reaffirm the importance of human rights and Geneva’s tradition of hospitality.”

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