The Variations Musicales de Tannay begins today the 18th August and continues until the 27th. This is a popular classical music festival and many concerts are already sold out, but there are currently still tickets available for some concerts including Renaud Capuçon & l’Orchestre de Chambre de Bâle on Sunday 20th August at 17:00. This concert will take place in the park near the lovely Château de Tannay. Note. for families. There will be a free concert of "Peter and the Wolf" on Saturday 26th August at 17:00 also in the park near the château. Photos above and below, courtesy Variations Musicales de Tannay - copyright details in photos

It's the fourth edition of the "Nuit des Chuaves-Souris" tonight the 18th August at the Musée du Léman in Nyon. It's an opportunity to find out more and see these nocturnal creatures, there will be stands, workshops for children and more from 19:00-23:00. Entrance free, no registration required.

There will be a Vide Grenier (in French this means "empty the attic") from 10:00 -16:00 on Saturday 2nd September in the village of Gingins near Nyon. There are opportunities to buy or sell second-hand goods on the day. For those that want to sell goods and take a stall at the Vide-Grenier, register with Alessa Poynton on 079 599 0165 before the 25th August. Details in flyer below.

The musical Legally Blonde will be performed in English in Geneva by the GAOS Really Youthful Group from the 25th to the 27th August. This fun musical was hugely successful in both the US and the UK and won the 2011 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical. Tickets and more details here Auditions for The Wizard of Oz, the GAOS winter production (for both children and adults) will take place in both Nyon and Geneva at the end of August click here for details. If you enjoy singing, dancing or acting on stage, building sets, creating effects with lights and sound, painting faces or creating costumes, or simply selling drinks at a bar, GAOS would love to hear from you!

Paléo may have ended a few weeks ago but all is not lost for festival lovers as the https://jval.ch/Jval music festival takes place on the 24-26th August. It's set in a stunning setting in the vineyards at Serreaux - Dessus near Begnins (see video below). This three day festival will feature bands from the Netherlands, the UK and Switzerland. Music varies over the three nights from "Hard funk/Rock n' Roll", "Energy Disco Glam" to "Enigmatic Pop" and other music styles. See festival programme here. Tickets are priced at CHF 33 per night or CHF 75 for an abonnement for 3 nights until the 18th August. From the 19th August, tickets are CHF 39 per night. Tickets can be bought online or at the festival. Video above - UK band Toy playing on Thursday 24th August Video below - Jval festival

The Triathlon of Nyon will take place on the 5th and 6th August. On Sunday 6th there will be several road closures around the town and in some surrounding villages. You can see the full extent of the road closures on the Triathlon website here

Far°, the Festival of Living Arts starts in Nyon on the 9th August and continues until the 19th. The theme of the festival this year is "Our Futures". The festival takes place in various venues around Nyon but the main hub/bar /central area of the festival is at the Usine à Gaz. The programme of the festival is now out and tickets can be bought online (some events in the festival have been translated into English). Look out for the ‘living sculpture’, based on Picasso’s 1928 painting Bathers with Beach Ball . This summer, the two bathers will stop over at far° and will lounge around among the festivalgoers by setting up shop in the courtyard of the Usine à Gaz to catch the last sunrays. More details here.

Swiss National Day Celebrations The First of August is Swiss National Day and in Nyon the ceremony and celebrations will start at the Esplanade des Marroniers. The evening will begin at 19:45 with an apéritif with music by the Municipal Fanfare Band. At 20:20 there will be the ringing of bells At 20:25 the official ceremony will begin presided over by Municipal Mr Maurice Gay followed by The presentation of flags The reading of the Pact of 1291 by M. Arnaud Hastoy The Patriotic Prayer The official address. This year it will be given by Mr Louis Derungs (elected personality of 2016 by La Côte newspaper). In 2013 Louis was in an accident near a railway line in Morges, this resulted in him being struck by 15,000 volts, consequently, he had to have two of his arms amputated and was told he may not walk again. Four years on not only is he walking but he is now inspiring others (see his Ted Talk at the end of this post) and has written a book about his experiences called 15'000 volts: Une méthode pour s'accomplir, un récit de résilience. The address will be followed by a message from the pastor of Nyon churches The singing of the Cantique Suisse This is all followed by a parade that will leave the Esplanade and wind its way down to the Rive. Note: This event is where families and children carry lanterns and flags. Programme here with the words to the Cantique Suisse for those who want to sing along! Details here of Swiss National Day celebrations in Morges and in Rolle and in Coppet Note: This parade is where families and children carry lanterns and flags - a fun Swiss tradition There will be fireworks on the lake from 22:15

Living in Nyon sums up Paléo 2017, plus a personal review of the festival by Jonas Parson Paléo 2017 ended on Sunday with a traditional classical concert in the afternoon (this year performed by the Geneva Chamber Orchestra), followed by a firework display at night that lit up the festival grounds. The evening ended with a concert by Manu Chao who performed on the main stage. https://www.facebook.com/livinginnyon/videos/1530495356993219/ In the final press conference of the six-day festival, President Daniel Rossellat declared Paléo 2017 to be a successful year. The extra seating and new lights around the grounds had been appreciated by the crowds, and many had said how they had enjoyed climbing the steps of the "Volcano" and looking down at the "town" of Paléo below them. Photos above - the lighting and seating areas of the festival (including some big bubbles!) The weather had proved somewhat unpredictable throughout the week, but music lovers still stayed on at concerts even when it rained. Rossellat said it was all part of the atmosphere. The Ruche area of the festival had seen a 30% increase in visitors this year which was very encouraging and the new luxury glamping tents had also been a big hit. There had been a very good security team in operation throughout the festival, discreet but efficient and the festival's success owed a lot to the work of the 4,800 volunteer staff. Photo above - artist in La Ruche area of the festival As to the music, Programming Coordinator Jacques Monnier said there had been many highlights but most people concluded that the concert by Midnight Oil was one of the best. Paléo was delighted that they could finally get this band on the programme in 2017. They had been due to play in Nyon over 20 years ago but that concert had to be cancelled for various reasons. Now that the Australian band had finally made it on to the Grande Scène, they were definitely worth the wait. There were many other concerts worthy of mention - that of Arcade Fire, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Swiss artists l’Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp XXL, Fai Baba and Alice Roosevelt won unanimous approval whilst hip-hop made its mark with the American rappers Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Black M and MHD. New discoveries included Lola Marsh, Jalen’Gonda and the disco-funk electro of Parcels. Date for your diary - next year's Paléo will take place from 17th to 22nd July 2018. The line-up will be revealed on 20th March and tickets will go on sale on 28th March. The Village du Monde will focus on music from Southern Europe. Jonas Parson gives his take on Paleo 2017 Manu Chao’s memorable concert finished off an incredible 42nd edition with style and generosity. His two-hour long concert was a beautiful gift that highlighted the magic that can happen at Paléo, and the coming together of 45000 people with a band for a shared moment that seems to freeze time. Generosity is probably the word I would use to define the past week. Generosity on the part of the musicians and bands who share their craft and energy with the crowds, such as Peter Garret and Midnight Oil’s amazing concert on Wednesday (maybe the best concert of this edition!), and smaller bands defending their passion with all they had. Photo above Midnight Oil © Paléo / Boris Soula Some of the largest headliners failed to convince probably because of this lack of enthusiasm and generosity, such as the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Pixies, but overall this year was full of musicians thriving on stage through their music. Generosity also from the part of the crowd. In front of a Renaud who was a shade of his former self-completely destroyed by a life time of alcohol, tobacco and depression, the crowd was there to support him and give back some of the love and wonder that he has given over his career. It was terribly sad to see him there on stage, alone and trembling, but the sheer amount of love and understanding coming from the crowd was overwhelming. German band Meute also got a taste of what Paléo’s crowd can be like, and their second concert of the week under the Detour on Sunday probably had the most enthusiastic and loud crowd of the whole week. Their fresh take on techno via a marching band got the whole tent into a delightful frenzy, and they looked pretty amazed by what Paléo had to offer. Photo above and video below - the wacky but wonderful Meute from Germany playing in the Detour tent on Sunday night https://www.facebook.com/livinginnyon/videos/1530565240319564/ Generosity finally from the organisers of the festival who each year work to make each edition better than the last, programmers who share with us their musical discoveries and make it possible for great names to come to Nyon. Paléo is not a money making business but a non-profit association, and that obviously comes out through the quality of the welcome on the grounds. Areas like la Ruche (see Living In Nyon’s interview with two of the people in charge of la Ruche here) are pure acts of generosity: la Ruche isn’t the reason people pay for Paléo, and thus has no economic interest. It is more of a gift that Paléo offers each year to the festival-goers, a small something that makes the festival even better. All in all, 2017 was an amazing year, and even if it rained a little, the festival charged on unphased, crowds dancing under the rain with glee. The time has come to pack up our festival gear, wash off all the mud from our shoes, and wait impatiently for next year’s festival, with all the great moments of this year’s edition in our minds to make the wait seem shorter. All photos and videos above and below - C. Nelson-Pollard Video below - Delgrès playing in the Dome, also on Sunday night https://www.facebook.com/livinginnyon/videos/1530754633633958/ Video below - the fireworks above Paléo https://www.facebook.com/livinginnyon/videos/1530833676959387/ Food at the festival - BBQ ing your own sausages and smoking salmon!

La Ruche (the hive), the area of the festival dedicated to circus arts and street theatre, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Living In Nyon met up with Patrick Chambaz, the man who made this space happen, and has been making circus and street arts happen at Paléo for the past few decades, alongside Marot, a circus artist who helps run La Ruche during the festival and has been working with Paléo for over twenty years now. Living In Nyon met up with Patrick Chambaz, the man who made this space happen, and has been making circus and street arts happen at Paléo for the past few decades. We also spoke to Marot, a circus artist who helps run La Ruche during the festival and has been working with Paléo for over twenty years. The Ruche makes us dream and wonder every time we enter this little slice of utopia, and here is sneak a peak behind the red curtain. Patrick Chambaz, 56, creator and programmer of La Ruche "I’d say that what I do is “choisisseur” at Paleo, I choose the street theatre and circus arts companies, I’ve done a lot of different things in my life, photography, music, physical theatre, when as was in school, I chose as many different courses as I could, as my grades kept falling I kept trying new artistic courses, and I somehow ended up getting my diploma! My parents told me I had to train for a real job, so I did an apprenticeship as a vendor in a photography shop and seeing as I already had some practice at photography, I got to develop the photos. I was already part of a band at the time, Parenthèses, we were quite successful, we played quite a bit, we did the off festival at Montreux, and then when the band started not doing as good I started singing solo, and I had quite a bit of success, I played quite a bit abroad. Then one day my father died, I was abroad, and I learnt of his death, I’d already started programming street theatre for the Festival, and I was in Aurillac, in a phone box, (there were no smartphones back then), and I was with some producers, and it made me stop and think really hard, I decided I needed a break. My father supported me a lot, emotionally but also materially. I’d just had a second child, a girl, and I was less enthusiastic with the music, and the more I worked for the festival, the less I wanted to continue music. I think of myself as a “metteur ensemble” (putter together). It's creative work, trying to create a new universe from all the artistic universes of the artists I want to share. The idea is to give the people who come here the possibility to enter a new world of wonder, not just a series of unconnected shows but a whole whose conception has been thought about. Crazy Idiots and the success of street theatre at Paléo Street theatre has been around for much longer than the Ruche - from the very start actually. I started off programming musical animations between the concerts, and then one day I heard about a whole festival devoted to street theatre, in Aurillac. So I asked Daniel if he would pay for my trip there - you have to keep in mind that Paléo was still pretty small, still in Colovray and the budget wasn’t huge. So I came back with two troupes, one of them called the Crazy Idiots. They were three guys dressed up as penguins, with tailcoats and orange beaks, and one guy playing the clarinet. They cost me half of my entire budget, and when I said so everybody was really cross that I’d spent so much money on them. I was told never to do anything like that again. But when they came to the festival, they were so successful, the press talked about them, and it made Daniel Rosselat realise that it was something interesting. We were moving grounds the year after that, and Rosselat decided to double my budget. The first few years weren’t easy, I had to convince everyone that these people had their place in the festival, we’d get ready to play and then an unscheduled sound-check would start, I had to fight a bit to get street theatre recognised. We built the Crique in 1996, a circular space dedicated to circus arts, but there were still some really sceptical people. The Crique worked really well straight away! Working through the year I start working for the next edition in August, I go to festivals and discover the shows I really want to bring to the Ruche. Then in the autumn I start thinking of a way of putting these shows together, finding a theme, some kind of unity, and in the spring I start getting started on ideas of scenography and logistics, sign the contracts. There’s a double temporality in my job, the first part is very lonely, and then during the festival it’s all about sharing what I’ve worked on over the year. I really enjoy both parts! I try and find shows that bring me new emotions, that create a new experience, leave the trodden path to discover people who explore new ways. I try and find that little something that makes you want to come back. We get to live some pretty crazy things in this line of work, it’s full of wonderful people and new experiences- some of which we couldn’t pull off today! For example, a troupe called “Turbo-cacahuète” had installed completely transparent shower cubicles at the entrance to the festival, with transparent shower curtains, and people would go and shower completely naked! We wouldn’t be able to do that today anymore. The latest funny story was when Marot (see right below) went to buy some tiered seating and he ended up leaving with a small puppy as part of the deal! If I had to sum up the Ruche in one word, it would be “dazzling”". Marot, 58 years old, circus artist and teacher "I’m called Marot, and I’ve been coming to Paléo for 22 years now. I started coming as an artist, then as a partner and now as a volunteer. It’s a privilege to be here each year, I come here with my whole family and it’s great. I look after the Ruche, and this year I also brought along a group of young acrobats, the collectif M et Vous ( and I coach them a bit, show them how to adapt to the grounds, interact with the crowd, share my experience. I spent over twenty years of my life as a circus artist, and I’ve always loved sharing and transmitting what I do, so I ended up opening my own circus school under a circus tent, and then ten years ago the town council asked us to renovate an old swimming pool, so I’ve now been running the “Cité du Cirque” in Le Mans for ten years. Patrick Chambaz saw us play twenty years ago in Avignon, so that’s how we came for the first time. He then asked me to build some props for the festival, I built a palc (a wooden stage used by circus artists) and came to Paléo for about ten years with it. And obviously, over time, it evolved into a tale of friendship with the people at Paléo. I actually played on the main stage a few years ago with Tryo (who played again this year), they were looking for circus artists to create visual pictures throughout the concert. I must have played about ten times at Paléo, some years easier than others- for example, in 1997 we were supposed to play six times, but the weather was so dreadful, we had to cancel the first four performance, stopped the fifth after quarter of an hour and then finished the last one under the pouring rain- just because we really wanted to at least finish one show! We’ve been pretty lucky with the weather this year so far (nb: we spoke on Wednesday…) I love the Ruche, because the people who work here are an incredible mix, you’ve got people who do completely different things all year round, nurses, doctors, and who gather once a year for this incredible adventure. We’re a team of about sixty people who take care of catering for the artists, welcoming them, decorating etc. It’s like a big family, and the kids of the people who used to work in the very first Paléos are now growing up and starting to work here to, it’s great. There’s also something completely magical about arriving a week or two before the festival in an empty field, and to see the result when the festival opens! I admire Patrick’s knack of creating this really consistent, coherent universe each year, he really knows how to offer us something that’s appealing content wise, with a real intention and that keeps surprising us, even after scouring most street theatre and circus festival for the past thirty years!"

There's a lot more to Paléo than just the music. As mentioned in the previous post by Jonas Parson, it's also a good chance to meet friends, to see some great street theatre in La Ruche area and to try out new food at the festival grounds. Paléo is also an opportunity to discover new bands. Even though you may not recognise some of the names of the billed artists on the programme, it's definitely worth heading off to the various tents and stages to listen to who is playing. New discoveries can be made this way and last night (Friday night) was no exception. Very early on in the evening Australian Band "Parcels" appeared in the Club Tent and despite the early hour, they began to attract a big crowd with their music (described on the Paléo site as "Hair in the Wind Electro-Disco"). The band, from Byron Bay in Australia are skilled performers and have already been flagged up as a band to watch by various media (see Guardian article here). They are currently on a European tour - see dates here. Living in Nyon predicts they will be back at Paléo one day and performing on a larger stage. https://www.facebook.com/livinginnyon/videos/1528359413873480/ Later on in the evening the Club tent was filled up very quickly by festival goers, some no doubt sheltering from the rain as the heavens had opened, but many also attracted to hear singer Jalen N' Gonda with his soulful R n'B. Whatever the reason, all stayed on to listen to the music ! https://www.facebook.com/livinginnyon/videos/1528504503858971/ Photo above Jalen N' Gonda - courtesy Paléo Festival © Laurine Mottet Finally, over in the Dome tent, there was a bit of party atmosphere with balloons, bubbles and the frenetic energetic sound of Kumbia Boruka from Mexico.

It's simply not possible to see all the concerts at Paléo, but there is the chance to see some of the concerts on the Paléo website after the event. For example, the concert of British band The Temples can be seen in its entirety under the "Videos" section on the official site as can the concert by Nyon band Alice Roosevelt and Israeli band Lola Marsh. Thursday night at Paléo was another warm night and there was yet another packed crowd in front of the Grande Scène, this time to see Jamiroquai who played early on in the evening. The artist said he was happy to be back (his fourth appearance in Nyon). He appeared, as always with an amazing hat which changed colour throughout the show and performed a mixture of hits (Little L, Virtual Insanity, Cosmic Girl) along with other songs from his new album Automaton. Photo below - Paléo © Lionel Flusin Check out the little girl grooving to Jamiroquai in the photo below - She kept taking her protective headphones off - she wanted to hear the music! Photos below - Living in Nyon Photos above and below - Pantéon Rococo playing in the Dôme tent on Thursday night. Mexico meets Madness....