Jazz, Swing, local Bands, Sunday lunchtime concerts and more over summer. It's Fête de la Musique in Nyon from 21 - 22 June. This  is a two day festival for local bands to come and play and show their talents to the public.  Fête de la Musique is setup around Nyon, in places such as in Place du Château, the Fisherman's Pub, La Plage, Cactus Jack and many more.  Rive Jazzy Rive Jazzy has just announced its line up for Summer 2019. Free music concerts will take place on Fridays, Saturdays and Sunday evenings from the 4th July to the 11th August at various venues near the lake.  With a mixture of jazz, klezmer music, swing, and other music genres, these concerts have become a tradition in the town and get bigger and better each year. For full programme - see here  Sunday concerts Another musical tradition in Nyon is the Sunday lunchtime (11:00 -13:30) free concerts by the Roman Columns. The line up this year consists of Whoo'z Next, AVS , New Country Rain and many others. Whoo'z Next is a group of six that play covers of rock music legends such as Van Halen, AC/DC, U2 and many more. These concerts are run by Association Place des Marronniers .

What a difference a day makes! After Saturday's sudden *storm in Nyon, the sun came out on Sunday and apart from some debris on the road (and a few dumped umbrellas around town), you wouldn't know there had been a deluge of rain in that area the day before. Check out our "before and after" pictures below. Also, see the pictures of the lovely planters full of flowers in the recently created public gardens at the bottom of the Place Perdtemps car park, they seem to have survived the wind and rain and were looking glorious today. *Our short Living in Nyon Facebook videos of the storm went viral!

There was a good turn out of women (and some men) at the Women's Strike in Nyon today (14 June). Events began early in the town and carried on right until the late afternoon, culminating in a march from the castle to the railway station. The traffic was held up by the marchers but there was a good atmosphere all round and the police re-routed cars and trucks to enable the march to continue.  The Women's Strike across Switzerland made in onto the BBC News , CNN and in the Guardian today. More marches will take place tonight in Geneva and Lausanne. Photo above -  Nicole and Mila at the Women's Strike.

There are many events happening across Switzerland on the 14th June for the Women's Strike including marches in both Lausanne, and Geneva.  Read more about this in  an article in Le News. If you want to support the strike in Nyon, there are events scheduled throughout the day in the town. See the Grève féministe Nyon Facebook site here. At 07:00 there will be coffee distributed at Nyon railway station (bring your own Thermos!) At 08:00 there will be an event (yet to be revealed) in front of La Combe shopping centre. For those that want to bring children to an event, there will be a temporary nursery (run by supporting men) at la Vie-Là, Rue des Marchandises 1, to enable women to participate in the day, however children are most welcome on the march and to events, a festive atmosphere is promised. Photo above - women making preparations for the strike outside Nyon station on Thursday night. Between 11:00 - 13:00 Big picnic in the centre of town, bring your sandwiches and snacks to a temporary "beach" created for the event. Music and more. The picnic has been supported by men in solidarity with the women. 15:00 Assemble at the Place du Château. The march departs at 15:24 and will wind through the town. Did you know that many streets around town were temporarily renamed this week with the names of famous Swiss women?

The Bol d'Or (one of the most important sailing races on an inland lake in the world) takes place this weekend. The main race starts in Geneva at 10:00 on Saturday, when all the yachts are lined up to begin the race it's an impressive site! Photo below taken by the Living in Nyon editor a few years ago (from the French side of the lake). Look out for the yachts as they pass Nyon (depending on the winds!) on the lake during the course of Saturday.

There will be a Street Food Festival in Nyon down by the Rive on Friday 14th from 17:00 -24:00, Saturday 11:00 -24:00 and Sunday 11:00 -21:00. Photo below taken on Thursday - preparation for for the festival. Food trucks and stands galore - see full list here

Thanks to Hester Macdonald of HM Garden Design for this article below. On Wednesday, Hester went along to a press conference in Nyon and discovered that the town is trialling an exciting new project involving roses. Members of the public can go along and see "this quiet revolution" happening in the town. Details below. A World First for Roses – in Nyon! Perhaps you know where the Espaces Verts for Nyon are based? Tucked up behind Nyon  Tennis Club , on the Avenue de Bois-Bougy? There’s a quiet revolution happening there, and if you have time to visit this weekend on Friday 14th June from 16:00 to 19:00 or Saturday 15th from 10:00 to 15:00, you can see it all for yourself. In the middle of a field of wheat, screened from all but the most curious of passers-by, you’ll find dozens of neatly-arranged squares, filled with roses, carefully tagged with numbers, but with no other information. This is the new rose competition for Switzerland, and the numbers refer to one of the 27 international rose breeders that have sent in their new roses for trial in Nyon. See photo of aerial view below. This is an entirely unique competition, as each of the plants has been raised completely pesticide and treatment free by the breeders, and will continue to be grown in exactly this fashion. The gardeners at the Espaces Verts will only providing watering and some additional compost, in fact, the conditions that most home growers would be quite happy to create. The competition has been created by the Amis de la Rose de Nyon with the support of the World Federation of Roses, and of course, the significant support of the team from the Espaces Verts et Forêts of Nyon. The roses were planted in March of this year, and considering what a wet and cool spring we have had so far, have surprised everyone by putting on a floral show, just in time for the open days this weekend. Go along and have a look if you have time this weekend, and see what the future of roses looks and smells like.

As summer is around the corner, it’s a good time for both children and adults to learn how to swim. The friendly swimming instructors in  Clinique la Lignière  speak English and will be giving classes during the school summer holidays, ranging from complete beginner to advanced stages of swimming : Classes begin from the 1st until the 24th July: each week from Monday to Wednesday, one hour per day at 16:00 or 17:00 and also from the 12th until the 28th August. This indoor pool with warm water is in the Centre de Santé la Lignière, and is set in lovely grounds near the town of Gland (just a few miles from Nyon). Note : The instructors always stay in the warm water at 32 degrees, both with the familiarisation classes and with the beginner swimmers. There’s also a Jacuzzi : water at 34 degrees. Note the swimming school will also start a new season in the autumn in*small groups, from September until June. Lessons will last 45 minutes per week on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday *no more than 5 children per group For more info contact  Sarah Lailler, manager of the swimming school on 022 999 65 81 email  natation@la-ligniere.ch .

Plogging, Spring Market, Intercultural Festival, Capoeira, Wine Tasting, Guided Tour of Nyon, Caribana continues, Rocketman - Events this weekend, plus a few ideas for family excursions.  Also, dates for your diary - Shakespeare (in English) at the Château of Prangins - 14th and 15th June.  Friday 7th June On Friday at 15:00 there will be a guided tour of the town entitled "Nyon- 2000 years of history" Call Nyon Tourism on 022 365 66 00 to reserve a place. Meet in front of the château. Saturday 8th June It's both the Spring Market and the 15th Intercultural Festival Nyon The market will be held in the streets in the centre of town - stalls, music, bars, food etc.  The Intercultural Festival also takes place on Saturday, firstly at the market with a stall in Place Bel Air with music and a demonstration of capoeira. Later, at 18:00, the band "Full Groove" will perform down at the Place des Fêtes à Rive. Plogging!  (a  combination of jogging with picking up litter) as part of Green Nyon week ( see blog here ) there will be a plogging run  on Saturday between 10:30 and 12:00 to run around Nyon and pick up waste to help tidy up the town.  The run leaves from the Triathlon of Nyon stand at the market in Place St Martin. Alternatively between 13:00 -16.00 you can learn how to sow/make your own reusable bag out of a sari!  Details here Sunday 9th On Sunday from 11:00 there will be traditional, international dances performed by local residents of different nationalities, world food and a buvette as part of the weekend Intercultural festival. Caribana continues until Sunday 9th  Caribana is well underway ( see our photos on the Living in Nyon Facebook page and Instagram page from Wednesday's night's concert).  Check out the very young Caribana fan and photographer early in the evening!   Later on, the "Manic Street Preachers" kept the crowd dancing despite the rain. They played hit after hit -"Take Me Out", "Do You Want To" etc. One reader commented "Alex Kapranos was a great showman that night with sharp suits and moves". If you haven't been to this lakeside festival it's worth going along, there are still tickets available. Caravan Palace are on the line up on Friday night. Caves Ouvertes Vaudoises this weekend 8 - 9 June It's open wine cellars this weekend in Vaud.  Just pay CHF 20 for a wine glass which will then enable you taste wines from hundreds of cellars of the region. Link here to the page of La Côte's regions programme including info on free shuttle buses that leave from Gland, Rolle and Morges. Don't forget, Monday 10th is the Pentecost holiday and shops will be closed. The cinema will be open and the Monday movie in English will be "Rocketman" screened at 20:45 Date for your diary - Shakespeare at the Château of Prangins in the Courtyard June 14th and 15th at 19:30. Details here Family Excursions  Local wildlife zoo Discover the local wildlife of the area at the lovely Zoo de La Garenne in the village of Le Vaud above Nyon. Read our article from 2016 about this zoo. Gardens of the Château de Vuillerens The beautiful gardens of the Château de Vuillerens are now open and currently has an Iris Festival There is lots of space for children to run around (children up to 11 enter free) and there are some amazing sculptures around the grounds. The paths are mainly flat, idea for buggies or wheelchairs and there is a lovely café/restaurant (note this is open until June 16) Strawberry Picking Know-it-all passport has published a great list of places to go strawberry picking in both Geneva and Vaud. Photo in headline banner - wild flowers outside Nyon post office.

Tram'Drames is a dramatic production which will take place in French and in English (see dates below) on an old Geneva vintage tram. This is a half-scripted, half-improvised account of some of Geneva’s grisliest murders, all told in period costume.  Hang on for a gruesome ride through the seedy underbelly of the city! Geneva seems to be such a respectable place,yet the City of Calvin keeps many secrets. There is another side to Geneva, weird and dark. Unexpected, surprising, shocking. A Geneva so unknown that even the Genevois themselves are unaware of it. The Renegade Saints (Geneva's English improv group) have partnered with  Compagnie La Mouette to present a night at the theatre – where the stage (and the audience) travel along the tram tracks. Performances alternate between English and French, the English shows are on June 14, 20, and 28 and September 13, 15, 19, 21, 25, and 27. Weds-Sat's performance at 20:13, Sunday at 16:13. Departure from the Plainpalais tram stop. Only 48 seats per evening. This production has been created and directed by Jacques Sallin adapted from the book  by Corinne Jaquet published by Slatkine. Tickets on sale now click here  Photo below - Viki Lazar from the Renegade Saints (standing) and Jaques Sallin (seated right) from  Compagnie La Mouette  at the Tram' Drames press conference. Photo above, courtesy - Chris Wadsworth more photos on his website here

The weather forecast is looking pretty good for Caribana this week. This lakeside festival near Nyon (in Crans-près-Céligny) is the first of the summer music festivals in the area and starts on Wednesday 5th until Sunday 9th June.  At the moment there are still tickets available for all nights. Franz Ferdinand is the main headline act on the main stage on for Wednesday night, but it's always worth watching out for other bands who appear earlier on the lake stage such as Barns Courtney from the UK (see video below) on the line up at 18:30. on Thursday Kodaline, Morcheeba and Bastian Baker appear on the Grande Scène, on Friday, Caravan Palace and German DJ Robin Schulz,  Saturday is for lovers of rap and hip-hop. Sunday there's RnB, hip-hop and an improv group from Nyon (in French). Check the full line up and times here. There are regular buses that run from Nyon railway station ( line 811 ) and free shuttles for the festival that leave from Gland, Prangins and in front of Nyon La Combe shopping centre. See pdf here   There is also some allocated car parking for the festival.   T

Our third health related article this week focusses on Kate Fergusson. Kate is a British specialist nurse and a Certified Paediatric Sleep Consultant and she moved to Nyon in 2017. Read on to discover how she likes living in the town, but in moving here, has had to adapt to a loss of a career and professional identity.  Kate has now found her feet and passes on tips on how to make the most of expatriate life, from learning the language, finding a support network, to trying out snoga! (yoga in the mountains).  Check out Kate’s website here "I moved from London to Nyon just over two years ago, with our new born baby. We relocated to Switzerland for my husband’s work and I left my career working in one of the biggest teaching hospitals in London as a specialist nurse and began pursuing a new career as a paediatric sleep consultant. It was overwhelming, to say the least. I would like to set the record straight, the majority of expatriate women are not pampered housewives drinking Gin and Tonics on the veranda (a real shame!). Nor are we shielded from the stress of adapting to life in a foreign culture. Learning a new language, social integration and remembering to drive on a different side of the road, are just a few things to get your head around. Regaining your professional identity  I understand not every expatriate mum struggles with this transition. However, I guarantee more women experience these issues than are willing to admit. Grappling with the loss of your career, your identity and a support network is a lot to handle. Your personal and professional identity, which has taken years to build, can take a major hit. The foundation of survival in this new environment and ensuring the transition is as painless as possible in this new life is to be honest with yourself and to find support where you can find it. Expatriate Life   -  Try to get out of your comfort zone Having officially settled down in Nyon, I reached out to expat groups and mum and baby classes and soon found lots of other mums and wives in a similar position, what a relief! Getting out of my comfort zone and attending groups was tough but making that effort was incredibly worthwhile. I can now clearly see that Nyon has a huge expat community, which is comforting and exciting, and on top of that is a beautiful little town to live in! Photo above - Irises and the Château of Nyon. Learn the Language One thing I underestimated before arriving was the power of learning the local language and since taking classes this has boosted my confidence and is making my life all the more enjoyable every day. As one might expect, joining local language classes is great way to make friends and gives you a sense of self achievement, success and integration. So, what about missing my old friends and family? What an ironic turn of events! We now spend more quality time with them over a weekend than when we lived in the same city. It’s incredible how a little bit of distance can make all the difference. We have now built stronger relationships with some family and friends as the time we spend together is all the more precious. Remember, Nyon is so close to Geneva airport ( 20 minutes by train ), that we have never felt far away from anyone or them to us. Despite all the positive notes above about personal relations, my husband’s job has taken its toll on our family as he has to travel on average four times a year for work, for weeks at a time, and being the sole carer at home in a foreign country is tough. I would have sleepless night’s weeks before his trips but after a while I learnt how to handle these trips and realised I was not the only expat mum going through this. I began to realise that I was doing an amazing job juggling home life, parenting and running my business. The “guilt gifts” bought back from duty free were an added bonus! Get enough sleep! Whether being sole carer at times, or especially when there are others to help, looking after yourself is an important part of the expat transition. As a sleep consultant and nurse I know that eating well, getting enough sleep and doing things that make you happy are so important for your health and well-being. Remove yourself from the baby classes for a moment and make sure you are getting some time to yourself. Whether that’s skiing, snoga (yes that’s right, yoga in the snowy mountains ), hiking, lake swimming or going out for drinks with a local group. Although it can be easy to forget, remember that we are in one of the most naturally beautifully countries in the world and make the most of Nyon and its beautiful surroundings. There are no excuses with the lake and the Alps on your doorstep! For those of us that sign up for an expat life do so not because living abroad is easy, but because we love the stimulation of a challenge, it is invigorating, it energises you and makes you feel like you are trying to the most of your life and of your family. We overcome great stress and tough times through our relationships and surroundings and we better appreciate the good times as a result. Expat life has its struggles, but it is an adventure too, and Nyon is a great place to have that adventure! Photo above and below - Snoga -Yoga in the mountains-  courtesy Charlaine Remove yourself from the baby classes for a moment and make sure you are getting some time to yourself. Whether that’s skiing, snoga (yes that’s right, yoga in the snowy mountains), hiking, lake swimming or going out for drinks with a local group. Although it can be easy to forget, remember that we are in one of the most naturally beautifully countries in the world and make the most of Nyon and its beautiful surroundings. There are no excuses with the lake and the Alps on your doorstep!"