Escalade

One of the interesting things about Switzerland is that each city seems to have their own culture and customs. There isn’t as much of a comprehensive Swiss culture as there is a Geneva culture, a Lausanne culture, a Bern culture, etc. etc. (of course, that's just based on my observations at this point—maybe I’m way off). Geneva perhaps exemplifies this better than any of the city’s since it used to be an independent entity, only becoming party of Switzerland in 1815.

Geneva’s biggest celebration of the year centers around “l’escalade,” a historical event when the Savoy region of France tried to invade the city. Apparently some old woman dumped hot soup on some of the soldiers attempting to scale the wall, and this event is now commemorated every December.

The Race

The festivities kick off with a series of races simply called the Escalade. The Escalade consists of running a series of laps around the city’s Old Town (3 laps for men, 2 for women). Because the streets are so narrow and the event is so popular, everything is broken into age divisions and things last the entire day. If you finish the race under a certain time (half an hour for the men), you are eligible to run in the “Elite” race the following year.

I had signed up to run early on, but I was’t prepared for just how popular the thing is. They put up a giant tv screen across from the entrance to Parc de Bastion (the staging area), had a marching band as well as a rock band playing music at opposite ends of the park, and there were helicopter cameras shooting overhead footage of the city.

My division’s race wasn’t until 5:45 so it was already dark and starting to rain when I went. These conditions made running around the cobblestone streets of the old town a bit tricky, but I managed to come in under 29 minutes to qualify for the elite run next year.

Following all the “serious” races, there is a big costumed run/walk called the Marmite. Everyone dresses up like Halloween (which as mentioned previously, does not exist here) and does a slightly modified course. Anyone in the city not participating lines the streets and watches the spectacle.

A lot of Hashers (people from the group I run with) ran over the course of the day and we all got together for dinner at a pizzeria afterwards, which was nice.

The Fête


The weekend after the race is the Fête (or festival) de l’Escalade. Families buy chocolate soup pots filled with candy that they break in commemoration of the old lady thwarting the Savoy. People amass in the Old Town and there are vendors selling Marrons Chaude (roasted chestnuts) and Vin Chaud (hot spiced wine) all over the place. The culmination of the weekend’s events is a parade on Sunday night where people dress in 16th century clothes and military regalia and march around that part of the city. The parade ends up at the cathedral where they light a large bonfire and celebrate.


Winter Lights


One of the coolest things about December in Geneva are the light installations around the city, specifically around the lake. Rather than gaudy lights all over like we have in American, the lights here are more like art installations. The most interesting to me this year is “Les Voyageurs,” a series of wire sculptures representing spirits. They float and fly over the water, bathed in spotlights.




There are also rows of trees lining the lake which have been given box lights that illumine them with shifting colors. Another display includes stands of lights timed with music that twinkle and turn on and off.





In a park near my apartment are a series of slightly eerie circular lights hanging between rows of trees. I’m not sure if these are all one-off displays or if any of them are annual fixtures, but I guess I’ll find out next year.