The Mid-Summer Festival in St-Cergue takes place every year in mid-August. This is a traditional yearly event where the cows get dressed up in flowers and the pigs race (so fast they almost fly!)!
This one-of-a-kind event is held on the 12th of August in St-Cergue. If you haven't been in the past, this is the year to make it happen!
Just to get you in the spirit of it, here is the story inspired from the Mi-ete website:The archives indicate its first edition in the 1930s, but no one has been able to say why, or when exactly it stopped. Now let's go back to 1995, to the Auberge des Cheseaux where Yuber Brahim was the tenant. Like any good merchant, he was chatting with his customers one evening. One of them tells him that traditions are being lost, such as the Mid-Summer party. Yuber asks questions about this festival that he does not know and from there the idea of reviving the lost tradition came to him…He goes to meet the shepherds and explains his project to them. Everyone is enthusiastic and Yuber revives this party around his inn in August 1995. The shepherds present their most beautiful cows in the morning competition. Local products and cow fights attract the curious passersby in the afternoon. The party ends with a dinner and a country ball. Every year the party is held again, but soon enough there is not enough space around the inn. So, in 2001 the event moves to the communal centre of Vallon.
The full address is Chemin de la Vieille-Route 1 - 1264 St-Cergue. There is no entrance fee and there is parking available in the area. There will be activities and games you are not likely to find very often, like the "bouze au carré" competition. A grid is drawn in a field and cows are then released in the field. People bet on the square that the first cow pat will land in. You bet the right square, you win! Here's what's on the agenda: 09:45  - Arrival and presentation of the cows 12:00 - Election of the cow winning "Miss Alpage 2023" 14:30 - The "bouze au carré competition" 18:00 - Cantine opens for dinner 21:00 - "Bar ambiance" to continue until the early hours!