Once every two decades, Suisse Romandie gets together in Vevey to celebrate its winemaking heritage. Listed as the first Swiss event on UNESCO’s register of Intangible Cultural Heritage, it is a big draw for both locals and tourists alike. It’s a fitting festival for the French-speaking part of the country given the fact that wine from German-speaking areas don’t usually populate the top of the charts.
The festival is probably one of the earliest examples of public positive reinforcement. While society of the 18th century punishes those who do poorly (think public hangings, stocks, and A Scarlet Letter), it rarely publicly praises those who do well. Now, the best winemakers in the country get recognized for their effort.
The temporary 20,000 seat arena, which also hosts over 4,000 performers, is constructed, used, and dismantled within the span of a month. For the 239 months when it’s not a festival venue it is a large square for people to enjoy the wonderful view of the lake.
I didn’t find out about the festival until a week before it started so I was extremely fortunate to be able to buy one of the last two cheapest unobstructed view tickets out of some 26 shows. I bought tickets for the evening of 27 July, but the show was postponed to the morning of 3 August due to poor weather.
Now, the expensive tickets faced east because the rich folks don’t want to stare at the sun during the evening show. Jokes on them, they can look at the sun for the whole show while I get a pleasant southwesterly view of the lake. Don’t spend too much money, you’ll only disappoint yourself.
