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SWISS TRADITIONS

EXPLAINED: What is new about Switzerland’s Fête des Vendages in Neuchâtel

The traditional Harvest Festival in Neuchâtel is reaching its 95th edition this year, starting Friday, September 23rd and ending on the night of Sunday 25th. Here's what you need to know about it.

Published: 23 September 2022 13:03 CEST
Updated: 23 September 2022 15:41 CEST
EXPLAINED: What is new about Switzerland's Fête des Vendages in Neuchâtel
The parade at the Harvest festival in Switzerland's Neuchâtel. (©Switzerland Tourism)

The Harvest festival in Neuchâtel celebrates vines and wine, bringing together more than 250 stands (and more than 300,000 people) between Friday and Sunday evenings in the city. It’s one of the most traditional festivals in Switzerland, taking place for almost 100 years during the last weekend of September.

The festivity days have plenty of events, but the most famous ones are the procession and the flower Corso, which take place on Sunday afternoons and can attract more than 100,000 spectators. On Friday, the costumed groups start the festival with the big procession of the Guggenmusik.

Besides the wine and local food stands, other attractions are the amusement park grounds and the Miss & Mister Neuchâtel Festival contest.

The harvest festivals date hundreds of years, but the current form has been taking place in Neuchâtel since 1925.

What’s new this year?

This year, the festival comes with a modern novelty: participants may buy a CHF 10 bracelet that can be charged with cash to keep transactions easy and contactless.

Additionally, the festival has an environmental facet, adopting reusable glasses. People will pay a CHF 2 deposit per glass which will be paid back to them on the bracelet once the glasses are returned.

You can return the glasses to all stands that sell drinks (except for the long drinks and absinthe glasses, which should be returned to stands that use them) – only the person who bought the cup can return them, so your friend cannot collect your deposit for you, for example. “This method limits the theft of glasses and facilitates logistical and safety management”, the organisers said.

How do I get there?

It’s easy to reach the venue using public transport – and those who buy the official bracelet get free access to public transport in zones 10, 11, 14, 15 and 30. The best way to reach it is by taking an SBB train to the Canton of Neuchâtel.

Public transport is also the best way to reach the area, as the Neuchâtel City Center is closed to road traffic during the Harvest Festival. Still, if you travel by car, the usual road signs will direct you to the car parks available.

How do I buy the tickets?

You can buy tickets online or in the ticket office at the event.

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SWISS TRADITIONS

EXPLAINED: Why is Switzerland so famous for watches?

Watches are considered as quintessentially Swiss as chocolate. But how did that become the case?

Published: 10 April 2024 11:47 CEST
EXPLAINED: Why is Switzerland so famous for watches?

Switzerland is considered the centre of the global wristwatch trade, with several of the world’s largest and most exclusive manufacturers based there.

However, this was not where the watch trade was born. 

In the 16th century, portable, wearable clocks, usually worn on a chain around the neck, first appeared in the German cities of Nuremberg and Augsburg. 

Both cities were known for precision instruments related to the weapons and surveying trades.

Several advances in metallurgy in these two cities enabled the creation of working, albeit somewhat unreliable, clock movements that could be carried around. 

READ MORE: Cuckoo clocks and Toblerone: The ‘Swiss’ products that are not actually Swiss

Soon, these were luxury items – and in fierce demand across Europe. 

Shortly afterwards, another momentous historical event occurred that would enable Switzerland’s dominance of the watch trade. 

An industry is born

As the Protestant Reformation exploded across Europe, French Protestants – known as Huguenots – were driven from France by the Catholic monarchy. 

Many of these Huguenots crossed to Switzerland and settled in Geneva, bringing their skills as metalworkers and jewellers. 

At this time, the city of Geneva was under the control of the reformer John Calvin and his supporters.

Calvin was a strict and austere man who had forbidden displays of flashy jewellery in the city. Thus, many Huguenots retrained as watchmakers to circumvent the religious laws that were rigorously enforced. 

Necessity breeds innovation, and within decades, the first clunky, inaccurate wearable clocks were replaced by far more advanced, smaller timepieces. 

READ MORE: Geneva watch fetches $21 million at auction

Throughout the 17th century, the pocket watch became incredibly popular, owned in large numbers by the nobility. 

Several large mercantile companies appeared in the 18th century, and the merchant class also began carrying them. 

To meet this surge in demand, timepiece manufacturing spread beyond Geneva to several nearby cantons, such as Neuchâtel and Jura. 

At this time, the country’s oldest still-existing watch manufacturer, Blancpain, was founded in 1735. Breguet, another titan of the watchmaking industry, was founded in 1775.  

The first wristwatch 

By the 19th century, the Swiss clock and timepiece industry had achieved almost total dominance, only rivalled by England and parts of Germany. 

This is due to the development of the etablissage system. Family firms in various villages and towns would be responsible for creating standardised watch parts, which would then be assembled by watch firms in the larger cities. 

Inventing the self-winding mechanism also played a huge role in furthering the influence of Swiss watchmaking. 

Such a system streamlined the production process and meant that watches could consistently be produced without waiting for specific parts to be available.

Many believe that Abraham-Louis Breguet created the first wristwatch in 1810 for Caroline Bonaparte, Queen of Naples and sister of Napoleon.  

READ MORE: Napoleon’s locks to be put in Geneva watches

This led to a fashion trend, and by the mid-19th century, women would wear bracelets that included a timepiece. 

Many new luxury brands, such as Patek Philippe in 1839, emerged to cater to this market. 

Men’s wristwatches would follow later – prompted by military men requiring something to use to time manoeuvres in the field. 

The Swiss watch industry continued to expand throughout the 20th century, weathering the development of quartz movements in Japan and several other threats to its dominance. 

Today’s Swiss watch industry

In 2024, the Swiss watch industry will contribute around 26.5 billion francs to the country’s economy, with just four companies—Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and Richard Mille—comprising almost half the market share. 

Around 700 wristwatch makers operate across Switzerland today, catering to luxury and specialist markets. 

Despite competition from other countries, such as Japan and the United States, the country is still viewed as a centre of innovation and excellence. 

READ MORE: Swiss watches rebound to beat the pandemic blues

Many firms emphasise bespoke, hand manufacturing as their strength in creating excellent timepieces. 

This perhaps explains the prices that some Swiss watches can command —some Patek Phillipe models, for example, have sold for more than 20 million euros! 

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