Not to be confused with the annual Zurich Festival of Performing Arts, the Züri Fest, first held in 1951, is a folk festival of
fun. Since 1976, it has been held every three years on the first weekend in July and remains a firm fixture in Zurich’s event
calendar. The weather was generally good in 2007 and over two million people from all over Switzerland - and many from abroad - thronged to the
event, setting a new record number of visitors.
Various spectacles took place on land, water and in the air, including high-wire
acrobatics, a fire show and a flying display by the Swiss Air Force. Friday’s Classic firework display with an 80-piece orchestra and Saturday’s Pop firework display proved to be literal
highlights, with many hundreds of thousands of spectators craning their necks
skywards. All in all, some 280 stands and marquees ensured that no one went hungry or
thirsty. Over 500,000 sausages, 180,000 portions of other meat, 300,000 litres of beer and 1.20 million bottles of soft drinks were consumed and about 100 tons of ice kept things cool! The weekend produced 162 tons of
waste, which was disposed of in environmentally-friendly fashion.
Despite a little rain on Sunday, the folk festival was another resounding success and thousands are already eagerly looking forward to the next time: 2 – 4 July 2010. |
