If you haven't done your Christmas shopping yet, then you can take advantage of "Les Nocturnes" late night shopping in Nyon tonight (the 20th December) until 22:00. Plus on Sunday, small family shops will be open in the town between 10:00 and 18:00.

Here are a few events taking place over the next week in the area.Following up on the "Dieudonné" affair, Nyon council has decided to allow the infamous show to take place in the name of freedom of speech, warning that if racist speeches did take place there would be consequences. The French comic whose show was banned in France last week will be coming in February and March to Nyon. Further along the lakeside, Cully Jazz Festival revealed its lineup for April 2014. You can check it here. MusicPony Del Sol- Friday 24th Pop Folk, Usine A Gaz (free concert) Pony Del Sol delivered her great pop songs this summer at Paléo for an amazing live performance. Discover her own musical world and peppy songs this Friday at the Usine à Gaz. Concert at 21:30, doors open 21:00www.ponydelsol.ch Viaggio Quartet- Friday 24th Jazz, Klezmer, Tango... Part of the concerts organised by the Nyon Music Conservatory. Clarinet, Accordeon, Double Bass and Drums. Concert starts at 20:30 . More information here Fanfare Gilly Bursinel- Tuesday 28th, Arzier The Vaud Champions, third category Brass Band will be playing in Arzier next Tuesday. You can also catch them on the 1st of February in Gilly and on the 2nd of February in Bursins, for a musical start to 2014. More information about the band here ArtPhotography: Afterglow, Jerome Muller- La Focale Gallery La Focale, Nyon's photo gallery and shop situated just next to the Castle is hosting an exhibition by Jerome Muller, entitled Afterglow. Exploring the social and economical desolation of Andalusia, Jerome Muller presents nearly monochromatic photos,, extremely underexposed. As if the desolation leaked into the camera. The subject of the photo slowly unfolds in front of the viewer, showing him the results of excessive industrialisation and the disaster of ultra-liberalism. 26.01.2014- 02.03.2014 http://www.focale.ch/exposition/remanences/ Local Art: Association La Levratte Work from the the lace-makers of Coppet and Nyon will be displayed in the community centre in La Levratte. Paintings by Claudine Boissard will also be shown. Saturday and Sunday 25-26 January, 1-2 February, 11:00-18:00Nyon Flea Market 26th January Browse through the stalls along the lakeside with the dramatic backdrop of the Alps across the lake. The flea market takes place every last Sunday. Cinemas Here are the timetables for films screened in English in local cinemas this week. Nyon- Cinéma le CapitolePhilomena By Stephen Frears, With Judi Dench, Steve Coogan Aubonne -Cinema RexPhilomena20:30 Thursday 17:30 Saturday 20:30 Sunday The secret life of Walter Mitty By Ben Stiller, With Ben Stiller, Sean Penn Part of the “English Movie” program: 20:30 , Monday 27 thThe Lunchbox20:30 , Tuesday 28 th , part of the “Les toiles du Mardi” Geneva- Ciné 17 All the films at Ciné 17, situated in the centre of Geneva, are screened in the original language. You can find the whole program on their website,www.cine17.ch

If you are looking for a a souvenir of Switzerland, a gift for a friend or colleague, or simply a work of art for your own home, then it's worth taking a look at the work and gallery of local artist Rita Mancesti. This gallery, named Artiswiss is located under the lovely old arcades in the village of Coppet and Rita welcomes both expats and English-speaking tourists interested in acquiring an original painting of the area. She also accepts orders for specific scenes; whilst incorporating her own personal style, if required she can integrate some of the client’s personal history within the painting. Plus, there is no upfront fee at the time of ordering the painting! One of the key advantages of Rita's workshop is that you can meet the artist and watch her working on-site. If you are a regular visitor you may even see a painting develop from very start to completion. This usually takes around three weeks. Rita told Living in Nyon I like this direct exchange: creating an artwork in front of visitors’ eyes. We share stories, and it then turns to be a living art, in the sense that I can explain how I am working and which ideas inspired me. Often children are the first being attracted by the gallery, and encourage their parents to come inside”. Photo above - Rita Mancesti - Rita was born in 1970 in Geneva, and has lived in Vaud since 1994. Future plans for the gallery include representing locally-famous painters, bringing diversity in the interpretation of Swiss scenes particularly the beautiful Leman area. The opening of Artiswiss Mancesti Art Gallery c oincides with the launch of her book called “Coquille de Lumière - an interesting 25 years-retrospective covering 450 paintings and some sculptures - in a high quality 110-page book. It can be purchased at the Artiswiss Gallery in Coppet or ordered on the website. An English version will be made available in 2015. You can find the Artiswiss Mancesti Art Gallery – Grand Rue 28b, Coppet Telephone 079- 216 5599. The gallery is open daily from 09.30-12.30 (except Wed and Sun), or via appointment. Rita speaks English, German, Italian spoken and the gallery accepts credit cards. There are also monthly highlights and updates on Rita's own website

Here is a handy list of dates of the five main festivals taking place in the Nyon area in 2014. The season kicks off with the winter mini rock festival Les Hivernales, followed in April by the documentary film festival Visions du Réel. Caribana, the first of the summer festivals takes place in June, (note: the band Queens of the Stone Age will be playing at this festival on Thursday 5 June). Paléo, the major rock festival in town is in July and the line up will be announced on Tuesday 1st April. The festival season finishes with FAR, the festival of living arts. Roadworks near railway bridge in Nyon . There will be roadworks in the centre of Nyon beginning Monday 13th January lasting for approximately five months. These roadworks will be near the roundabout under Nyon railway bridge. These roadworks are part of a long term project to improve traffic flow and to help users of the public transport system (particularly the bus network). Some roads will be closed off to cars and some bus stops will move to a different place. See map below of the new changes. More details can be found on the Nyon council site . Decision on show with controversial performer to be made next week. The decision to on whether to let Dieudonné, the French stand up comedian perform in Nyon at the Théâtre de Marens will be taken by Nyon council next week. The performer is scheduled to perform here from the 3rd to the 5th February. Dieudonné’s shows have recently been cancelled in France (see article in the Independent newspaper here) having being labelled as ‘antisemitic’ and at the moment Nyon is one of the remaining venues still scheduled on the performer's itinerary. In the light of possible public disorder, and the show attracting demonstrations from various protest groups, the council will announce their decision on the situation on Tuesday.

Thanks to all of you who came along to the launch of the book "Slow Train to Switzerland" by Diccon Bewes at the Ferme du Manoir last night. Over 80 people listened to Diccon (author, travel writer and great raconteur!) tell the story of the first Thomas Cook escorted tour to Switzerland over 150 years ago, through the journals of Miss Jemima Morell from Selby in Yorkshire - one of the passengers on this first tour. We heard how Jemima and the other ladies on the tour clambered over glaciers in their crinoline dresses, endured difficult travelling conditions, ate copious courses in some of the hotels and we learned about the hotel industry in Switzerland at that time. Diccon also told us how Switzerland quickly realised its tourist potential with the arrival of British tourists and how the country began to build many train lines to accommodate them all and take them up its mountains. We also heard about the contrast between Switzerland and Britain, then and now. We heard about Thomas Cook himself - how he negotiated discounted rates with the hotels and how he came up with the idea of a "traveller's cheque". Diccon recounted how he followed in the footsteps of Jemima Morell by recreating her journey and the interesting coincidence he discovered about the author after he had finished the tour and began writing the book. The evening was a run away success! For those of you that enquired about the Yorkshire cheese served that night, (to link the Yorkshire theme!) this was Wensleydale Cheese served both plain, and with cranberries. The white wine was from a local farm and vineyard in Signy near Nyon called Le Panier Gourmand. This is a lovely farm shop that has lots of local sourced produce and wine for sale. The red wine was a Pinot Noir rom the Valais called Hurlevent

There are plenty of Christmas related activities going on in the area right now, here are three, plus an idea for a Christmas present offered by Paléo! It's the Christmas market in Nyon down by the lake side this Sunday 8th December from 08:00- 18.30. Stalls, food etc more info here The Christmas market in Morges is a massive four day event held from the 4th to the 8th December. It is held in the old CFF hall, this is a covered market, perfect for when the weather is very cold outside! More info here La Côte Church is holding an evening of jazz carols on Sunday 21st December in the old Salvation Army Church. Details on poster below. Looking for an idea for a Christmas present? Each year Paléo music festival offers a 6-day pass for the following year's festival. This offer is valid until the 20th of December. See the poster of next year's Paléo look below! The Christmas offer is available: on their website (limited to 2000 passes) at the Paléo Shop (2 passes per person until 20 December) - check out the opening hours of the shop Price: CHF 325 (adults) CHF 275 (students and reduced tariffs). No booking charge at the Paléo Shop (however, payments with credit cards are not accepted at the Paléo Shop).

Tomorrow the 8th November two new major photo exhibitions will open both under one roof at the Château de Prangins; Swiss Press Photo 2013 and World Press Photo 2103. In the Swiss Press Photo exhibition, over 175 photographers submitted 2, 825 images to the competition portraying momentous events from 2012. Swiss Photographer Laurent Gilliéron (who lives in a small village near Lausanne) won Swiss Press Photographer of the year 2012. Laurent sent in a series of photographs documenting the terrible bus crash that happened in the Valais on the 13th March 2012. Living in Nyon spoke to Laurent about the life of a photographer, and about this photo below, taken of the tunnel following the bus crash which occurred around 21:00. Dozens of rescue workers, eight helicopters and a dozen road ambulances were involved in the rescue efforts. Swiss Press Photographer of the Year 2012 Photo © Laurent Gilliéron, Swiss Press Photo, Bus Crash, Sierre, Keystone, various newspapers. "The Tuesday of the crash it was actually my day off, but I received an sms around 22:00 that night from the police to say a major accident had happened inside a tunnel in the Valais. The details were unclear, I had no idea it was a bus that had crashed or how many casualties there were, but I went straight to the scene. There were only three other photographers there that night, myself working for Keystone agency, a photographer from Le Nouvelliste (the newspaper from the Valais), and another agency photographer. We all know each other, the world of Swiss press photography is small. There is no doubt that what we all saw and experienced that night will probably never leave any of us. It was very moving. However for me, as a father, it was the press conference that was held in a tiny room at 06:00 in the morning that was probably the most upsetting. When they announced that 22 children had died out of a total of 28 passengers, that of course was very, very sad and hard to take in. As to the photo itself, I took it standing on on a very small bridge. I knew that the images of the rescue helicopters would be better taken from inside the tunnel rather than from outside as it was still dark and you couldn't see much. I started this photo reportage at 22.00 on Tuesday and I didn't get home until the following Friday, there was obviously a lot of follow up work, more press conferences and the continuing clear up after the accident. As to my daily life as a photographer, the work is extremely varied - one day I can be working from 10:00 - 16:00 on a job and the next from 07:00- 24:00. I do have one fixed day off a week at least. I am often home late after sports fixtures, particularly with football matches as they are played in the evening. Having said that, even though these make long days, I like sports and live events photography. It's completely unpredictable and you get no second chance. Portrait photography interests me too - but here you have time to set the scene in these kind of photos, and you can alter the lighting and the positions of the subjects. Photo above: Laurent Gilliéron - Photo crédit Keystone/Valentin Flauraud Working as an agency photographer means I am more or less responsible for my own programme in my area. I find out what is happening in the news the following week and plan where I am going to be. I think one of the good things about working as an agency photographer in Switzerland is that I am salaried, that means I don't get paid per photograph. Perhaps this is why you will often find Swiss photographers working well together, there's a camaraderie. We are not battling each other for the best shot which can happen in other countries. We obviously keep any tip offs or future ideas to ourselves, but once we are all on the scene we are in it together". You can see more of Laurent's photos in the exhibition which runs from the 8th November 2013 until the 2nd March 2014. Also, check out these photos by other photographers in the Swiss Press Photo 13 exhibition. These photos below shows a competitor in the " XSpeedSki" race ready to ski down the steep Mont Fort's slope meet at Verbier and another with Roger Federer trying to avoid a wasp during a practice session prior to a Davis Cup encounter between Switzerland and the U.S in Fribourg on February 9, 2012. . Note: this World Press Photo exhibition is a travelling exhibition and will only be in Prangins until the 1st December 2013. The Swiss Photo exhibition will remain until the 2nd March 2014. The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00 Photo above from the Sports category © François Schaer, Swiss Press Photo, Xspeedski, La Cité Photo above from the Sports Category © Michael Buholzer, Swiss Press Photo, Roger Federer and the wasp, Reuters, various newspapers.

Living in Nyon receives many emails from readers asking if there any volunteering opportunities in the area. There are plenty! From helping to clean up the lake, to volunteering in charity shops, we will be featuring more of these on this site in the future. In the meantime, here are three possibilities. The first is with the local documentary film festival Visions du Réel. Although their site is in French only, you will find that many people in this organisation speak English. The second is with Serve the City Geneva (they work in Nyon too) The third is with International Conference Volunteers (the Living in Nyon editor has volunteered with this latter organisation before, there are lots of way of helping here, particularly if you want to volunteer your administration, writing, interpreting or IT skills). Volunteers wanted for film festival in Spring Visions du Reél, Nyon's documentary film festival which takes place from the 25th April to the 3rd of May 2014, is looking for volunteers. Help is required in welcoming film goers, professionals and members of the public to the festival and with logistics and transport. If you are interested in helping out in this fabulous film festival See here Next year, this film festival celebrates its 20th anniversary. Volunteer with Serve the City Geneva or Serve the City Nyon. Looking for year round volunteering opportunities? Take a look at Serve the City and the work they do around Geneva and Nyon. Many people from the international community volunteer their time with various temporary and permanent projects throughout the year with Serve the City. They are currently helping the Salvation Army shelter which houses 40 homeless seven nights a week. They serve breakfast and a hot dinner in the evening. Their website is in English and French. More info here and see video below. https://vimeo.com/20148272 International Conference Volunteers ICVolunteers is another organisation based in Geneva which offers many short- and long-term opportunities to volunteer in local, national and international settings. According to their website, ICVolunteers provides "motivated individuals with unique short- and long-term opportunities to volunteer in local, national and international settings.volunteers offer their knowledge and experience to provide critical assistance to important humanitarian and other non-profit projects. At the same time, they also acquire new skills and grow both personally and professionally". There are lots of ways to volunteer with this association : Conference Volunteering. Work with other ICV volunteers to help plan, host, interpret and report on events for some of the most interesting and important local, national and international conferences. CyberVolunteering. The CyberVolunteers Program recruits, trains and coordinates volunteers with skills in information and communication technology (ICT) for development. Volunteers participate in local, regional and international projects for a period of several weeks or months, offering their skills in areas such as web or software development, system administration and content generation. Language services. ICVolunteers recruits and coordinates volunteer translators and interpreters. We manage a network of community interpreters who accompany migrants (MigraLingua). Communications and journalism. Write and edit articles, interviews and other contributions for ICV publications, our website and other online forums. Volunteering in different places around the world. Volunteers can participate in local, regional and international projects for a period of several weeks or months in communications and journalism, information and communications technology, or conference services. Other professional activities. Individuals can apply their professional talents, including accounting, bookkeeping, computer maintenance, transportation services, and other important skills, to help our organization manage and build its programs. Internships and 'long-term' volunteering with ICVolunteers. We offer internships (unpaid) and long-term volunteer opportunities, be it in translation (from and to English, French and Spanish), event organization, writing and editing, Internet research, IT-related work (web, system and software development) and resource mobilization in Geneva (Switzerland). We are also looking for long-term volunteer for our offices in Canada, France, Mali, South Africa, Spain and are working with online volunteers.

There is a lot on the agenda this weekend in both the Nyon and Morges areas, with a bit of careful planning you could attend all events should you wish. Read on and take your pick! Wine Festival in Nyon Focussing on the town of Nyon itself. The annual Fête de la Vigne (wine festival) kicks off on Friday night 3rd October at 17:00 with wine and live music outside the Place du Château. At 18:00, the band "Red Night) (A Swiss tribute band to Californian group Green Day) are on the line up, followed by "Bruce Copeland" at 21:00. On Saturday 4th the wine festival begins in earnest and continues all day with events from 10:00 in the morning to 22:30 at night. The official ceremony is scheduled for 14:30, and at 15:00 the actual grapes will be picked from the vines near the castle in the gardens above the La Duche car park and then they will be pressed in the old wine press. Members of the public can take part in the grape picking! For the full programme see here. See video below of last year's event on Nyon TV. Vues sur l'actu du 17 septembre 2014 Autumn Fair in Nyon - Oktoberfest The annual Autumn Fair in Nyon has been renamed Oktoberfest this year, along with the lovely colourful Autumn stands along the streets of Nyon, there presumably will be beer on sale too! The fair continues all day, from 07:00: to 20:00. UEFA open day in Nyon A reminder that it's Open Day at UEFA on Saturday the 4th October from 09:00-16:00. This open day is a chance to see inside the building, to take part in competitions, to see behind the scenes and look at exhibitions all about the beautiful game. Details hereSki Club Troc in Bassins It's the "troc" (second hand sale) of ski gear in the Grande Salle in Bassins on Saturday the 4th Ocotber. A great opportunity to get equipped for the coming winter season and to find out about La Gamelle (the ski club) itself. Got ski gear to sell? Then you can deposit it between 10:00 and 11:30. The actual sale begins at 13:30 until 15:30 and unsold goods must be collected 16:00 and 16:30. British Classic Car show in Morges It's the annual Classic Car show in Morges on Saturday 4th October. This takes place along Morges lake side from 10:00 to 17:00. This car show is gathering of over 1500 British classic cars and motorbikes of all makes. Entry is free for both participants and the public. See here for full detailsBig Expat fair - Sunday 5th October in Geneva This Sunday it's Expat Expo in Geneva from 11:00 to 17:00 at La Praille shopping centre. Meet 100s of exhibitors from all over Switzerland. These expat fairs are very useful if you have recently moved to Switzerland and want to know about the services that are on offer for expats. Banks, insurance companies and small English speaking businesses will be all there under one roof, along with experts on hand to answer questions about living in this country. Also - Living in Nyon recommends you visit table number 5 at the Expat Expo where you can meet the authors of the latest "Know it all Passport" guide and of "Education Guide Switzerland" . Note, there will be a review of the latest "Know it all Passport" guide in a future Living in Nyon post along with a chance to win a free copy. Watch this space!

Patrick Dentan, the cinema programmer at the Capitole Cinéma in Nyon has previewed the film "The Hundred Foot Journey" starring Helen Mirren and says it is "a feel-good" movie and worth going to see. The film, produced by Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey is the story of the Kadam family who clash with Madame Mallory, proprietress of a celebrated restaurant in the South of France, after they open their own Indian restaurant nearby. See trailer below. There are 5 pairs of free tickets on offer to the Avant-Premiere of this movie which will be shown in English in Nyon on Monday 8th September at 20:30. To be in with a chance of winning tickets, send an email with your full name, the name of the other person who will be accompanying you and the towns or villages that you both live in to info@capitole-nyon.chClosing date Saturday 6th September 2014.

Vision Nyon 2030 What will Nyon look like in 2030, when it comes to housing, living together and work opportunities? If these questions interest you, the City council in partnership with the economic magasine Bilan and Uni Global Union are hosting a big debate tomorrow morning Friday 19th of September, from 8:30 to 12:15 at UNI Global Union headquarters . Bringing together the major players in the area, from politicians to demographics specialists, this morning of debate will tackle issues such as the aging of the population, work opportunities, what it means to live in Nyon and more. Among the people taing part in the debate will be president of the Grand-Conseil Pierre-Yves Maillard and Tibère Adler, head of Avenir Suisse for Romandie. La Côte Church Autumn Fair in Founex La Côte Church will be hosting its Autumn fair on Saturday the 27th of September. There will be a number of stalls including a book stall, a chutney and pickle stall and more. Live music, dancing and food for the adults, while the kids can have fun in the children's corner. The fair is on from 10:00 to 17:00 in Founex

The Luna Tent has now been installed alongside the château of Nyon and the stage is set for the start of Luna Classics, the prestigious classical music and arts festival which will run from the 19th - 31st August in the town. The opening night's performance under the big "moon" tent will be Nelson Goerner on piano, Paul Meyer on clarinette with the Menuhin academy soloists and young talents of 2013 . There are still tickets available for some of the main events and for performances in the Temple of Nyon. Tickets for concerts in the Temple start at just 30 CHF. Meanwhile, the annual festival of living arts (FAR) began in Nyon on the 13th August and continues until the 23rd at different venues around the town. This year the festival celebrates its 30th anniversary. For the full programme see here Photo below - FAR parade in the old town of Nyon. Next week the last of the local summer music festivals, the "Jval" Open Air rock and music festival will take place on the 28, 29 and 30th of August in the lovely setting of the vineyards in Les Serraux Dessus (near Begnins). Free navettes (buses) will be provided from both Gland and Nyon to this festival, parking at the festival is restricted and car sharing is encouraged! See here for map and times of buses. A variety of acts are on the line up from the rock of Belgian band BRNS to Polar. See full programme here. Video below - Polar with " I want your soul"