Search

Listed below are a few musical, sports and other events coming up in the area, plus news of a Living in Nyon book launch on the 4th October!   Music -  On Saturday 24th September Canadian singer/ songwriter Ian Kelly will be playing at the Parenthèse in the centre of Nyon. His second album "Speak your Mind" sold over 40,000 copies and he is currently on an European tour. This is his only concert in Switzerland.  See his website here and details of his concert here Jam Sessions at the Plug and Play Studios - Friday nights -  From the 23rd September the Plug and Play studios in Route de Champ-Colin 10 in Nyon will be holding jam sessions on Friday nights and members of the public are invited to bring their instruments to jam with an existing studio band. This is the first time this venue is opening its doors for such an event.   See Facebook page for more details. Jazz Concert -  Note for your diary. There will be a Jazz concert at the Salle Mingus on October 7th at 20:30 at the COV (Les Concerts du Conservatoire)  with the Michel Tirabosco Trio. The programme includes   Tango pour Claude -Richard Galiano, Suite Buenos Aires - Diego Pujjol, Suite Espagnole  - Joaquin Nin,  Aria Bourré-Badinerie - Jean Sébastian Bach and more. See COV for more details. Read more about the Michel Tirabosco Trio here Male "trailing spouse " Beer Night.  The next  event for male trailing spouses will be held at the Brasseurs pub in Nyon on the 27th September at 20:00. See here for details of previous beer nights.  Rugby Match this Sunday 25th September - The Rugby World Cup is in full swing right now and if you are a fan of the game, then why not go down to the Colovray sports ground in Nyon this Sunday to see  R.C Nyon 11 Vs play  R,C Tcino  at 15:00. See Nyon rugby club site here LIVING IN NYON  BOOK LAUNCH - TUESDAY 4th OCTOBER!  - Regular readers of this site will know that since February 2009 La Côte newspaper (the local newspaper of this region), has carried a Living in Nyon column in its Friday pages. This column is written in English and is a light hearted look at living in the region.  A selection of these columns, together with photos and other articles has been complied into a book called   "Living along Lac Léman".  This book will be launched on Tuesday 4th October at the Villa Thomas in Nyon at 19:00 and readers are invited to attend the launch, where there will be an opportunity to purchase the book.  More details to follow about the book itself and the retail outlets that will stock it  here on this site soon. If you would like to attend the launch, please email cnp at bluewin.ch to register your attendance ( please note - space is limited in the venue).

André Borschberg, one of the two pilots currently attempting a round-the-world solar flight in the plane "Solar Impulse", was recently honoured in Nyon and bestowed the award of "bourgeoisie d'honneur de la Ville". This award was given for his pioneering spirit, his bravery, his contribution to society and for flying the Nyon/ Vaud / Swiss colours in all his endeavours! Since 1719, the award has been handed out by the town to just ten people. André Borschberg has lived in Nyon since 1987. André is an engineer by education and a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in management science. His passion for aviation and his interest in innovative solutions led him to team up with Bertrand Piccard to direct Solar Impulse.  Fascinated by aviation from his earliest youth, André Borschberg, born in 1952, trained as a pilot in the Swiss air force.  Today he holds an assortment of professional airplane and helicopter pilot’s licences and also does aerobatics in his spare time. Photo above - André Borschberg © Solar Impulse | Revillard | Rezo.ch Yesterday (17 March ) the Solar Impulse plane landed in Ahmedabad after crossing the Arabian Sea, it had completed the longest distance ever flown by a solar airplane in aviation history. You can track the plane's journey and find out discover more about this fantastic project on the Solar Impulse website you can also follow both pilots Tweets! The plane has now just landed (18 March) in Varanasi and will be heading off to Mandalay in Myanmar tomorrow morning and will be piloted by Bertrand Piccard. Lausanne born Bertrand Piccard comes from a famous family of adventurers.  If you want to know more about their history, you can read and discover more about them in the excellent Auguste and Jacques Piccard collection in the Musée du Leman in Nyon.  Photo above - Courtesy Solar Impulse RTW Photo above - Courtesy Solar Impulse - RTW Local dancers give farewell to pilot André Borschberg before take-off from Ahmedabad.

The weather forecast is looking good for this Saturday, perfect conditions for Nyon's outdoor free music festival - Fête de la Musique. This festival takes place in various venues around the town from classical music being played in the Temple of Nyon, to funk in Place St Martin and rock in the place du Château and more. There's a full programme that begins at 08:00 in the morning until late Saturday night and into the early hours of Sunday morning with DJ sets scheduled at the Usine a Gaz. See the programme below  for venues, times, and genres of music at the festival or see festival site here

Saturday night in the centre of Nyon saw a fantastic display of flying fish, walking octopus, floating snakes and other aquatic animals all suspended in the sky as part of the celebrations of 35 years of Paléo . The theatre company, the Plasticiens Volants that produced these fantastic creatures wove their way through the streets of Nyon to the crowd's delight and the evening finished in spectacular style with fireworks above Place Perdtemps. Paléo begins on Tuesday and as in the previous two years Living in Nyon will be there to report on all the action, music and news of this great festival. NEWS! From the beginning of this week there will be a new Living in Nyon! The overall look has remained the same, but the design is cleaner and archived articles will easier to search.  Living in Nyon is also on Twitter too, have a look at the tweets at the bottom of the page coming from Julius Caesar. You will be automatically rerouted to the new site once it is launched. This new design has been produced by Yann Graf,  a local designer from Crassier. Yann is one of the founders of the site Café Vert TV , an environmental site which showcases videos on all that is green and environmental. Some of the videos are fun, some are serious and all are worth checking out. Take a look at the the "expresso" section  which gives you a short burst of latest environmental news. You can also read about and see Yann's own portfolio here .

Rive Jazzy, the festival organised by the "Association of the Quartier de Rive" by Nyon's lakeside celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.  This festival  offers 18 free open air concerts on Friday, Saturday and Sundays (apart from Paléo week) between July 5th and August 4th. There will also be special 20th Anniversary concerts on August  16th, 17th and 18th and a Gala Night on 24 August.  See the 2013 programme here  and check out the different venues Photo above - The crowd listening to a Rive Jazzy evening in a previous year The festival is dedicated to traditional jazz, swing, latin and other kinds of music.  The concerts only take place only in good weather and are usually postponed or cancelled  in case of rain .   The bands and artists perform on small stages which are usually positioned next to restaurants or bars so you can listen to the music at the same time as having a drink or a meal. Perfect!

Flying above Kilimanjaro, looking down at the spectacular Andes from a cockpit or landing at Kai Tak (the old Hong Kong airport) are among the favourite memories and routes of retired *Swissair pilot Eric Bieler, now president of the Conseil Communal here in Nyon. Surprisingly after a career taking him across the world, he no longer has the great desire to travel long distances and now has his feet firmly on the ground. “There is so much to see in Nyon,Vaud and across Switzerland, I don’t need to travel far to see beautiful places, they are all on our doorstop.” Like many people who have retired, he finds his schedule busier than ever. “Even more so than I when I was pilot. Once you have landed and pulled on the parking brake of the plane you can pretty much relax and enjoy the city you have arrived in. The only person you have to worry about is yourself, whereas here, as president of the conseil communal, I preside over meetings of 100 elected members and because of this I’m very aware of many of the latest issues.” “I cannot walk around the town without noticing things or making a mental note on issues which council members are concerned about. There are common subjects that we often discuss in meetings: namely traffic problems, urbanism and taxes, but whatever is discussed, like in many meetings all over the world, sometimes we can pass a motion in five minutes that authorises the spending of 1 million Swiss francs, but we can spend hours discussing the authorisation of a small figure such as 5,000 Swiss francs!” “Despite some of meetings which can be long (and which I try to keep as short as possible) we still have a dedicated group of individuals who are willing to be council members and come out on cold winter nights to attend meetings and to vote on and discuss local issues. These members come from all walks of life and nationalities and are representative all political parties. There are members from the U.S, Britain, Kosovo, etc. We have one Swiss lady, Madame Gabrielle Ethenoz- Damond who who has been serving on the council committee for 50 years!” The president of the conseil communal is an annual position (Eric was previously vice president) and along with heading council meetings he also supervises the votations in the local elections. “I do this job happily as I get great satisfaction by putting back something into the community I live in, and I enjoy meeting people. I have been here since I moved from Lausanne in 1981 and although I know Nyon very well I’m always learning something new about the town. “ Even when I was travelling for work I always took an interest in the social side of Nyon life and became a member of various social sporting and philanthropic associations. Eric is married with two grown up children and when not sat in council meetings, he is also president of the local tennis club and president of the Conservatoire. Any free time he has, he enjoys snowshoeing in the mountains in the winter or taking his motorboat for a spin on the lake in the summer. * Swiss International airlines used to be called Swissair ** There is an opportunity to hear more about Swiss national politics and meet some Nyon council members on January 28th, see Swiss Politics for Dummies event on right hand side bar.

If you are a Nyon resident and you want to take your recycling to the Nyon déchèterie (recycling centre- dump), from now on you will need to show this this sticker/label in the photo below to enter the grounds. These labels have recently been produced by the council for Nyon residents only. At the moment, people from other communes have also been taking their rubbish and recycling to the déchèterie and it is now reaching full capacity. You should have received this sticker in the post inside an envelope saying "Information aux habitantes et habitants de Nyon -Attention Macarons d'acces à la déchèterie dans cette envelope". Last weekend in Nyon Last weekend there was lots going on in Nyon with L'Interculturelle on both Saturday and Sunday, and the final night of Caribana followed by Caribakids on Sunday. If you missed out on either of these, do not despair as this coming weekend it's "La Fete de la Musique" in Nyon with lots on the agenda, so watch this space for more information. The final night of Caribana ended in superb style to celebrate its 20 year anniversary with large crowds present for both Sean Paul and Madness. Over on the lake stage, fans of Mama Rosin danced away to this very popular Genevan band and their unique sound of Cajun Blues and Rock. The introduction of more seating areas in the food areas at Caribana this year proved popular and the new quieter accoustic stage was also deemed a success. Thankfully the weather stayed fine for the last night which  meant that the moment lead singer Suggs from Madness kicked the set off with "One Step Beyond" , the atmosphere was set to end the festival in an upbeat mood. When they finished with "Our house in the middle of the street", the crowd were ecstatic and happy: another very sucessful Caribana over until next year. The crowd went mad for Madness L'Interculturelle Also on Saturday in the early evening at the Salle Communale, there was a pot luck meal as part of the L'Interculturelle events. The flower displays were decorated in flag serviettes and the tables were full of food from around the world. There was Dolmeh from Iran, Spanish Tortilla from Spain, Bigos from Poland, Nasi Goreng from Malaysia  and much more (including treacle tart and shortbread from your Living in Nyon correspondent) plus scones, flapjacks and cottage pie from the International Women's Club of Nyon . Also at the event were a series of panels outlining the history of immigration to Nyon over the years, it showed the proportion of English speakers back in 1989 and then in 2009. This exhibition is die to be shown again in Nyon in September.There were also photos of old adverts for local businesses too such as this one below for Pizzeria da Mario which is now the Croix Verte! Sharing wine, food and other cultures in the Salle Communale

Nyon has a brand new recycling centre which was inaugurated a few weeks ago. This new centre has been designed to make the process of recycling more efficient and faster!  You no longer have to make tricky manoeuvres to get in and out out of a busy car park to recycle your household goods. To gain entry to the new centre, you need to use the official key card (which was sent to all Nyon households - photo below) which opens an automatic barrier leading up a drive to the déchèterie.  The address is  Chemin des Marais 2, in the  l'Asse area of town. Head off towards the Paléo shop and turn right just shortly afterwards. Opening times Monday - Friday  09:00 -12:00/ 13:30 - 18:00  Saturday 09:00 - 18:00 Cars line up and take their turn to recycle, however as you no longer need to separate glass bottles and containers into different colours ie: green, brown and clear glass, (you throw all the colours into one very big container) this speeds up the system considerably! There are recycling bins for vegetable oil and other oils You can recycle neon tubes, tools and some household goods Note - for really big household items (encombrants) there are special collection days that have been allocated throughout 2015. What is an encombrant? Essentially these are bulky items that are too big to go into a normal rubbish/trash bag, items that need to be crushed before incinerated. These tend to be objects such as rolls of carpet, mattresses, skis etc. Items that have a dimension greater than 60 cm. To see the dates of the special collection days in Nyon click here  However some items are excluded from this special house collection: metal chairs, bikes, pans, etc and there is a recycling bin for them at the new centre. There is more information about recycling on the council website click here  Electrical equipment must be returned to the point of sale. Below - Place to return used batteries Places for PET bottles and aluminium cans Place for garden waste Place for used clothes (these need to be tied up in a bag before placing them in the container). Clothes then go towards a charity which recycles them for future use. To find out more about this charity click here

Photo above: Jack Johnson (courtesy of Paléo festival) The line up for Paléo 2011 has now been revealed and as ever there's an interesting mix of music on offer from around the world. This year in particular there is plenty on the programme for Anglophones with big names such as Jack Johnson, James Blunt, The Strokes, Robert Plant, Portishead, The Chemical Brothers, The Noisettes - all of them due to play at the five day festival. At the press conference Daniel Rossellat president of Paléo announced that he was particularly pleased that Jack Johnson had accepted to play in Nyon as he felt that his music would definitely part of the spirit of the festival. Sometimes programmers had to wait quite a few years to get the artists here. Either their tour dates didn't coincide with Paléo dates, or some of them have other family commitments in the summer (there has been a six year wait to get the Chemical Brothers to play here). Photo below: The Noisettes (courtesy of Paléo festival) The Village du Monde music this year comes from the Caribbean with Los Van Van and Chucho Valdes Choc Quib Town, the Creole Choir of Cuba and many others, all set to give tropical, reggae, reggaton, and latin and sounds for the music fans. Photo below: The Creole Choir of Cuba (courtesy of Paléo festival) Swiss Musicians also on line up   This year there are many Swiss musicians from the German speaking part of Switzerland on the programme,  but Romandie holds it own with "Trip In" from Nyon, "Aliose" from Nyon and Geneva, and Geneva based "Mama Rosin". This latter group come to Paléo after a very successful UK tour and performance on the BBC programme "Later with Jools Holland " and BBC Radio Six Music.  For Paléo this year they will be playing with English rockabillies band "Hip Bone Slim". Note: Living in Nyon first wrote about Mama Rosin on this site in 2008 when they performed at the club 1306 and at Paléo last year. There will also be an interview with singer Alizé Oswald from "Aliose" here on Living in Nyon on this site in the next few weeks.   Jacques Monnier head music programmer of Paléo said that the Swiss music tent is often a spring board for many Swiss artists, who then go on to bigger things outside this country so it is a tent definitely worth checking out. Photo below  "Trip In" from Nyon (courtesy Paléo festival) The festival will end on the Sunday with the classical concert of the "Ensemble vocal et instrumental de Lausanne performing the Requiem by Gabriel Fauré. Then in the evening Jamel will be providing a touch of comedy to end it all. As ever there will be much more on Paléo nearer to the dates of the festival and during the week  itself, but don't forget if you want to go this year, be ready to buy your tickets the day they are released which is next Wednesday 13th April at midday as it is likely they will sell out very fast as in previous years.  For those newcomers to Nyon who have never been to Paléo , checkout this time lapse video made up of 24'572 ages taken from a camera high up positioned on an elctricity pylon. The video gives you a good idea of what one of Europe's biggest rock festivals is all about! Paléo 2011 - Teaser en time-lapse par paleo Some interesting facts to come out of the Paléo conference are the spectator profile figures,  Origin of spectators Nyon district (Nyon and  surrounding areas Duillier, Eysins, Grens, Prangins, Signy-Avenex, Trélex)  30% Canton of Vaud  (not including Nyon)          20% Canton of Geneva                                                   29% Other French speaking cantons                            8% German speaking part of Switzerland and Ticino  2% France                                                                              10% Other countries                                                              1% Age of  spectators                                     Under 20 years                                                              17% Between 20 and 29 years                                           43% Between  30 and 39 years                                           15% Between  40 and 49 years                                            10% Over 50 years                                                                   15 % Fans are very loyal too! 10% are disovering Paléo for the first time but  79 % of the public have already been to more than three  festivals Out of the 98% of the public who are considering returning the following year, 85% are certain they will return and 13%  say it will be a possibility for them. Ticket  prices are slightly higher this year by 5 CHF, the first increase in a few years.

The annual GAOS (Geneva Amateur Operatic Society) traditional Christmas pantomime (usually performed in Geneva) will take place in Nyon this year at the Théâtre de Marens! The GAOS panto is a fun way to kick off the Christmas festivities and it contains all the usual elements an audience can expect to find in a British "Panto". From well known catch lines, audience sing alongs, fun, corny jokes and great costumes, it's a fun afternoon or evening's entertainment for all the family. Matinée performances at the weekend. Tickets are selling fast!  Details below.   This years panto is called "Once upon a time" - here's the synopsis below provided by GAOS. "You may not realise it, but this is traditional British pantomime containing all the usual ingredients ― except that Cinderella and Snow White are now all grown up and have children of their own! Cinderella’s daughter Lottie is about to get married to Snow White’s son Prince Marvellous, which also means that evil is about to be banished from Pantoland. But the wicked queen, Evelyn, sets out to stop the wedding by transporting Princess Lottie and her two assistants, Nick and Nack, away to the furthermost reaches of the back of beyond. Prince Marvellous, his friend Jack and the cook, Gertie, set off to save them. Along the way, they have adventures with various characters from different fairy stories. You may recognize Captain Hook, Red Riding Hood and the Alice in Wonderland, not to mention the March Hare. Will the Prince and his companions succeed in rescuing Lottie? And can their wedding finally take place?" Eight performances at the Théâtre de Marens, Nyon.   To book - click here Saturday, 29 November and 13 December at 14:00 and 18:30 Sunday, 30 November at 11:00 and 15:30 Friday, 12 December at 20:00. Sunday, 14 December at 14:00 Tickets: 28 francs

New brochure out on Vaud in English The Bureau Cantonal pour l'intégration des étrangers et la prévention du racisme (the Cantonal represtentative responsible for the integration of foreigners and prevention of racism) has now produced its "Bienvenue dans le Canton de Vaud " brochure in English. This brochure includes some very good information, from useful contacts for advice and information, to information on health insurance to housing to financial matters to administrative formalities. Living in Nyon has 20 copies of this brochure, at the next Living in Nyon event (talk above) there will be some available. Alternatively you can download the brochure as a pdf file from their site here

How exactly does the Swiss state school system work? Is the local public school right for my child? There are many families in the Nyon and surrounding area who would like to send their children to a Swiss state school, however they often have questions about the local education system. On Monday October 1st at 19:30, parents will get the chance to have their questions answered by educational expert Margaret Oertig,  author of  the newly released book " Going Local - your guide to Swiss Schooling" . She will be the keynote speaker at this Lloyds TSB Private Banking, Living in Nyon, International Link organised event which will take place at the Uni Global Headquarters in Nyon.   Reservations required -  details below. "Going Local"  unravels every aspect of Swiss schooling from kindergarten all the way to apprenticeships and university.  Margaret Oertig explains the various educational paths available in all 26 cantons (she will focus on the canton of Vaud for this particular talk). Margaret draws on a wealth of personal experience in-depth research and interviews with parents and children alike. The book provides valuable information on cultural differences, language learning, how to develop relationships with schools and integrate your family into the Swiss way of schooling. The book also outlines what schools expect of parents, key facts, figures and essential terminology so that you can make informed, confident choices from the range of options to find the right path for your children in Switzerland. Margaret is also the author of " Beyond Chocolate - understanding Swiss culture". At the event on October 1st there will also be the opportunity to chat (over an apéro) to other parents who already have their children in the local school system. Reservations required. Please email the event co-ordinator -  flurina.knapp@lloydsbank.ch or call 022 307 36 73. The Uni Global Headquarters in Nyon are situated at Avenue Reverdil 8 in Nyon. See map here