Lake Geneva region, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – It’s a long weekend for most people in the region, thanks to 1 August, the Swiss national holiday falling on a Friday. Plenty of partying, picnicking and fireworks on offer, and GenevaLunch offers you a few suggestions before closing down until Tuesday 5 August: we’re taking a break, too. Enjoy!

Weather: sunshine and warm weather, up to 28-31C – with a few thunderstorms thrown in, most likely late afternoon. Don’t leave home without suncream and your umbrella.

Photo: copyright Athos99, reproduced with permission. Fetes de Geneve 2007.

Fireworks, bonfires and village fetes in the Lake Geneva region: Lausanne, Geneva and most towns in between and up the hillside celebrate either tonight, Thursday or Friday, the first. Rolle pulls in a good crowd each year.
Geneva
Nyon
Lausanne

An alternative is to take one of the CGN boat trips and view several the whole show from the water.

Fireworks and bonfires in Valais, from mountain peak villages: Chablais Radio has a good list, but don’t be confused by their mistake with the dates in the headline.

And just to see what it might be like to celebrate the holiday elsewhere, check out Swissinfo’s Swiss in California story.

Don’t forget the safety side: Lausanne offers, in French, several bits of advice and the Swiss Safety Bureau has sensible reminders.