What’s On in September 2018

The summer holidays have flown by so fast and it’s time to go back to our routines but don’t worry as there is still a great deal to do with children in this wonderful area during the autumn months.

Make the most of our events listings for the month of September and remember to keep checking our blog on a general basis as we will be updating this post with more events each week. Happy rentrée to all!

APPLE-PICKING:

Autumn is the season to go apple-picking with the kids, just find the closest farm to you and bring a sturdy bag. Make sure you check with them when picking starts, as it may be more towards the end of September/beginning of October.

Some farms will let you pick pears and plums too — such a great alternative to supermarket shopping!

 

SUNDAY BRUNCH & INDOOR PLAY CENTRES

You can also check our previous posts to find all the best child-friendly places to enjoy a delicious and stress-free Sunday brunch with your little buttons or the best indoor play centres in Geneva, Vaud and nearby France. And if the Sunday blues hit you don’t fret, we’ve got some great tips for that too.

LIBRARIES & TOY LIBRARIES:

Many public libraries host free events, workshops, story-times (usually in French but many times in other languages too). The bibliothèques in Geneva, Lausanne and neighbouring communes hold too many kids events each month to list them all here so here’s some links you can check regularly:

Geneva public libraries events & activities

Carouge public libraries events & activities

Lausanne public libraries events & activities

Click here to find the best indoor play centres in Geneva, Vaud and nearby France, and remember you can always pop round into your local toy library for a bit of free-play. Here’s a link about great ludothèques in the area.

 

SEPTEMBER 2018 LISTINGS:

• 30th August-16th September 2018: La Bâtie – Festival de Genève, an unmissable line-up of fantastic concerts, theatre & dance shows, workshops, exhibitions and much more. There will be shows and workshops for kids too. Visit the festival’s official website for full programme details and to book your tickets.

 

• Friday 31st August-Sunday 2nd September 2018: Geneva Street Food Festival on the Promenade de Saint-Antoine. Opening times will be 5pm until midnight on Friday 31st August; 11am until midnight on Saturday 1st September and 11am until 9pm on Sunday 2nd. FREE ENTRY.

 

• Friday 31st August-Sunday 2nd September 2018: “Le livre sur le quai” book festival in Morges (VD) will offer a programme jam-packed with great authors like Joël Dicker, kids activities, workshops, story-times and a dedicated section for English-speaking writers. The festival’s English programme will include author talks as well as writing workshops for adults and teenagers. Free entry, see the official website for full programme details.

 

• Saturday 1st September 2018: Fête au village: course de caisse à savon in Commugny (VD). A lovely village festival boasting a super-fun mini car race! The mini cars must be built from small wooden crates.

 

• Saturday 1st & 29th September 2018: Atelier Pizza, from 10.45am to 11.30am at Signal de Bougy. For ages 5 to 12, let your little ones learn the ropes of authentic pizza making with a professional pizzaiolo, they will also be able to eat up their yummy creations once they’re cooked. The workshop costs 20CHF per child, places must be reserved at signal.bougy@gmvd.migros.ch or +41 58 568 31 50.

• 1st-2nd September 2018: Journées européennes du patrimoine 2017 in Geneva, Vaud and the rest of French-Speaking Switzerland. You can download the full programme here.

 

• 1st-2nd September, Geisendorf: La ville est à vous returns for its 14th edition with street parties, second-hand sales and activities for children. Take a look at the official website for all upcoming weekends and join in, because the city is all yours! Here’s the list of all the upcoming street parties in Geneva: 8th-9th September, Europe; 15th-16th September, Petit-Saconnex; 29th-30th September, Pâquis; 6th-7th October, Eaux-Vives. 

 

• Sunday 2nd September 2018: La Journée du Cinéma Allianz, all cinema tickets are 5chf per person!

 

• Sunday 2nd September 2018: Free entry to all museums and exhibitions in Geneva, a special initiative organized by the city of Geneva offering free access to permanent and temporary exhibitions on the first Sunday of every month.

 

• Sunday 2nd September 2017: “Cap sur l’Afrique avec Tohu Wa Bohu” story-time songs and music for children at Geneva’s MEG museum (in French). Suitable for toddlers from age 2, the first session will take place from 3pm to 3.45pm in the museum’s foyer, and the second one from 4pm until 4.45pm. FREE ENTRY, no advance booking required. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

 

• Sunday 2nd September 2018: enjoy a unique tour of the city on the Geneva Historical Trams leaving from the Rive tram stop. A great way to see the city with young children — they will love riding the old city trams! During the summer, on the first Sunday of every month these “Trams touristiques” will be circulating from Carouge to Nations, Gare Cornavin, Eaux-Vives and the city centre. Tickets for a single ride are 8CHF and 12CHF for a day pass, children aged 6 to 16 pay a reduced fee.

 

• Wednesday 5th September 2018: Les mercredis à la Villa Freundler, free Wednesday activities for children at the Villa Freundler in Plainpalais (Place de Saint-François 4). Activities include games, creative workshops, sports and they will run from 1.30pm to 6pm. FREE ENTRY, no advance booking necessary, children must be accompanied by an adult/carer.

 

• Wednesday 5th September 2018: Jours d’ouverture aux familles at the Maison de la Créativité in Conches (7, chemin Calandrini). These family activities will take place in the afternoon from 2.30pm to 5.30pm.

 

• Thursday 6th September 2018: Jeûne genevois, bank holiday in Canton Geneva. Shops, offices and schools will be closed!

 

• Friday 7th September 2018: Rencontres jeunes mamans et papas à la Villa Freundler, free Friday sessions for young parents and their babies/toddlers at the Villa Freundler in Plainpalais (Place de Saint-François 4). A chance to meet other young parents, make new friends, chat over a cup of tea and take part in parenting workshops (in French), every Friday from 3pm to 5pm. FREE ENTRY, no advance booking necessary.

 

• 8th-9th September, Europe: La ville est à vous returns for its 14th edition with street parties, second-hand sales and activities for children. Take a look at the official website for all upcoming weekends and join in, because the city is all yours! Here’s the list of all the upcoming street parties in Geneva: 15th-16th September, Petit-Saconnex; 29th-30th September, Pâquis; 6th-7th October, Eaux-Vives. 

 

• Wednesday 12th September 2018: Les mercredis à la Villa Freundler, free Wednesday activities for children at the Villa Freundler in Plainpalais (Place de Saint-François 4). Activities include games, creative workshops, sports and they will run from 1.30pm to 6pm. FREE ENTRY, no advance booking necessary, children must be accompanied by an adult/carer.

 

• Wednesday 12th September 2018: Jours d’ouverture aux familles at the Maison de la Créativité in Conches (7, chemin Calandrini). These family activities will take place in the afternoon from 2.30pm to 5.30pm.

 

• 13th-23rd September 2018: La Semaine du Goût opens its doors across Switzerland with plenty of delicious events focused on food, healthy eating and regional specialties. The number of events and workshops is amazing and too big to list here, so take a peek at their official website to find what’s going on in the area closer to you. Child-friendly activities include workshops and cookery courses , museum workshops and more.

 

• Friday 14th September 2018: Rencontres jeunes mamans et papas à la Villa Freundler, free Friday sessions for young parents and their babies/toddlers at the Villa Freundler in Plainpalais (Place de Saint-François 4). A chance to meet other young parents, make new friends, chat over a cup of tea and take part in parenting workshops (in French), every Friday from 3pm to 5pm. FREE ENTRY, no advance booking necessary.

 

• Saturday 15th September 2018: Les Ateliers en Fête, a fantastic free event running from 3pm to 10pm on Rue du Léman and Place de la Navigation in Geneva (Pâquis). Organized by Les CréAteliers, the event will offer free trial sessions on a variety of crafts including calligraphy, jewellery making, engraving and much more. There will be food stalls and free live concerts from 7pm.

 

• 15th-16th September 2018: Fête des vendanges in Russins (Geneva). One of the area’s most famous autumn festivals now in its 56th edition, celebrating grape-harvest season with exciting activities for the whole family: from pony rides for the little ones to free tastings of local wines for mum & dad. Don’t miss the fête des enfants on Saturday from 1.30pm to 4.30pm. Free entry with some activities that require an entry fee, see the official website for full programme details.

 

• 15th-16th September, Petit-Saconnex: La ville est à vous returns for its 14th edition with street parties, second-hand sales and activities for children. Take a look at the official website for all upcoming weekends and join in, because the city is all yours! Here’s the list of all the upcoming street parties in Geneva: 29th-30th September, Pâquis; 6th-7th October, Eaux-Vives. 

 

• 15th-16th September 2018: Journées européennes du patrimoine in France. Free entry to museums and historical places with free activities. Take a look at the full programme at Fort L’Ecluse in nearby Léaz on their website.

 

• Monday 17th September 2018: Lundi du Jeûne fédéral, bank holiday in Canton Vaud. Shops, offices and schools will be closed!

 

• Wednesday 19th September 2018: “Fort comme un roc”, part of the Mercredis Family  family workshops at the Musée d’art et d’histoire in Geneva (Rue Charles-Galland 2). Children aged 6 to 10 accompanied by an adult are welcome at 3pm to discover all about the museum collections in a fun, interactive way. FREE ENTRY, no advance booking required.

 

• Wednesday 19th September 2018: Les mercredis à la Villa Freundler, free Wednesday activities for children at the Villa Freundler in Plainpalais (Place de Saint-François 4). Activities include games, creative workshops, sports and they will run from 1.30pm to 6pm. FREE ENTRY, no advance booking necessary, children must be accompanied by an adult/carer.

 

• Wednesday 19th September 2018: Jours d’ouverture aux familles at the Maison de la Créativité in Conches (7, chemin Calandrini). These family activities will take place in the afternoon from 2.30pm to 5.30pm.

 

• Friday 21st September 2018: Rencontres jeunes mamans et papas à la Villa Freundler, free Friday sessions for young parents and their babies/toddlers at the Villa Freundler in Plainpalais (Place de Saint-François 4). A chance to meet other young parents, make new friends, chat over a cup of tea and take part in parenting workshops (in French), every Friday from 3pm to 5pm. FREE ENTRY, no advance booking necessary.

 

• Saturday 22nd September 2018: La Nuit des Musées in Lausanne & Pully (VD). Discover Lausanne & Pully’s museums under a different light & enjoy the special activities planned for Museum Night. See the official website for full details.

 

• Extended until 22nd September 2018: “T’es sûr-e ?”, a fantastic new exhibition suitable from age 7 at the Espace des Inventions in Lausanne (Vallée de la Jeunesse 1). The exhibition will teach and amuse your little ones with fun science experiments. Alongside the exhibition there will also be a series of fun workshops for ages 7 to 12 called “Le Club des petits inventeurs”, from 2pm to 5pm on selected days. Click here to download the list of activities. Open Wednesdays to Saturdays from 2pm until 6pm, and on Sundays from 10am until 6pm. Tickets are 7 CHF for adults and 5CHF for children. Entry is free on the first Saturday of every month.

 

• Sunday 23rd September 2018: “Yoga-Visite”, parent-child yoga workshop for ages 6+ (children must be accompanied by an adult) conducted in French by Espace Colibri at the MEG museum in Geneva (Musée d’ethnographie de la Ville de Genève, Boulevard Carl-Vogt 65-67). The workshop runs from 9.45am to 11.45pm, tickets are 8-12CHF and must be purchased online ahead of the day as places are limited.

 

• Sunday 23rd September 2018: Brunch du Signal at the Parc Pré Vert Signal de Bougy (VD). Brunch open from 9.30am until 1pm in the main restaurant. Parc Pré Vert is a fab place for a family day-out, find out more about it in our previous post here! Prices for the family brunch are 35CHF per adult and 2CHF per year of age for children up to the age of 14. Call reservations on 058 568 31 50 or email info@signaldebougy.ch

 

• Sunday 23rd September 2018: Festival Nature et Terroir au Centre Nature vallon de l’Allondon in Dardagny. The event will run from 10am until 6pm, with puppet shows and story times for kids, guided tours, farmers’ market ad donkey rides! FREE ENTRY.

 

• until 23rd September 2018: Luge sur rail. Have you tried the sledge on rail at Col de la Faucille (France)? It’s quite a thrill, perfect for a summer weekend. Suitable for children aged 11+, kids aged 5 to 10 must be accompanied by an adult. The ‘luge sur rail’ – one of the biggest in Europe – is open everyday until the 2nd of September 2018, and only at weekends from the 3rd to the 23rd of September, from 10.30am until 6pm. The price per person is 6 € or 50 € for 10 tickets, children aged 5 to 10 must be accompanied by an adult.

 

• Wednesday 26th September 2018: Jours d’ouverture aux familles at the Maison de la Créativité in Conches (7, chemin Calandrini). These family activities will take place in the afternoon from 2.30pm to 5.30pm.

 

• Wednesday 26th September 2018: Les mercredis à la Villa Freundler, free Wednesday activities for children at the Villa Freundler in Plainpalais (Place de Saint-François 4). Activities include games, creative workshops, sports and they will run from 1.30pm to 6pm. FREE ENTRY, no advance booking necessary, children must be accompanied by an adult/carer.

 

• Friday 28th September 2018: Rencontres jeunes mamans et papas à la Villa Freundler, free Friday sessions for young parents and their babies/toddlers at the Villa Freundler in Plainpalais (Place de Saint-François 4). A chance to meet other young parents, make new friends, chat over a cup of tea and take part in parenting workshops (in French), every Friday from 3pm to 5pm. FREE ENTRY, no advance booking necessary.

 

• Friday 28th September 2018: Globe: La Nuit des Chercheurs au CERN / Researchers’ Night from 5pm until 11pm. On Friday, 28 September 2018, budding scientistsand physics fans of all ages will come together for Researchers’ Night at CERN, a free and fun bilingual event. This is the 10th year that the world’s largest particle physics laboratory has opened its doors to the public for this great European celebration of science. An excellent opportunity to share amazing scientific innovations and put on quite a show. Come and discover the CERN behind the scenes through robotics and cloud chambers workshops, visits of the Synchrocyclotron, physics shows, science films, etc. Don’t miss the highlight of the evening, the screening of “Almost Nothing: CERN Experimental City” in the presence of the director. The tours will be conducted in several languages and on Facebook live. FREE ENTRY. Reservation is required for the robotics workshop; no reservation needed for all the other activities.

 

• 28th-30th September 2018: Fête des Vendanges in Neuchâtel. As described on the Neuchateltourisme.ch website: “The grand night-time procession with “Guggenmusik” (or “Happy Music”) takes place on the Friday night, but groups in costume are out and about all through the festival. The children’s fancy-dress parade, a joyful and colourful event, is traditionally held on the Saturday afternoon. The Sunday afternoon floral procession also attracts a vast crown of onlookers. Punctuated by fanfares and peppered with humorous touches by some of the groups in costume, this parade carries on the tradition of the procession of the grape-harvest carts, decorated with flowers and loaded with the wine-growers’ tools, which takes place at the end of the grape harvest.”

 

• Saturday 29th September 2018: Jours d’ouverture aux familles at the Maison de la Créativité in Conches (7, chemin Calandrini). These family activities will take place in the morning from 9.30am until midday and in the afternoon from 2.30pm to 5pm. Entry is 3CHF per adult and per child aged 2+.

 

• Saturday 29th September 2018: Atelier Pizza, from 10.45am to 11.30am at Signal de Bougy. For ages 5 to 12, let your little ones learn the ropes of authentic pizza making with a professional pizzaiolo, they will also be able to eat up their yummy creations once they’re cooked. The workshop costs 20CHF per child, places must be reserved at signal.bougy@gmvd.migros.ch or +41 58 568 31 50.

• Saturday 29th September 2018: Désalpe in St-Cergue. A major celebration that marks the end of the Alpine summer pasture season. The parade of countless carefully decorated cattle highlights the breeders’ great passion for their animals. Cows, goats and pigs walk through the village all day long to the sound of bells and alphorns. Read all about this festival in our previous post! FREE ENTRY.

 

• Saturday 29th September 2018: Désalpe in Charmey, Canton Fribourg. During September and October, “Désalpe” is the best-known of all traditional mountain festivities. After more than four months of grazing in alpine pastures, cows make their way down to the plain. You will see the “armaillis” dressed in “bredzons” and their ladies in “dzaquillons”. As for the cows, thundering bells will be hanging from their necks and brightly couloured flowers on their heads. There will be a parade, traditional music and a market with local products among other things. The main “Désalpes” of the region take place in Semsales, Charmey, Schwarzsee and Albeuve.

 

• 29th-30th September, Pâquis: La ville est à vous returns for its 14th edition with street parties, second-hand sales and activities for children. Take a look at the official website for all upcoming weekends and join in, because the city is all yours! Here’s the list of all the upcoming street parties in Geneva: 6th-7th October, Eaux-Vives. 

 

• Sunday 30th September 2018: Déjeuner sur l’herbe and 20th anniversary celebrations at Prangins Castle (VD) from 10am to 6pm. A fantastic family event in 18th century costumes, inspired by the castle’s long history: you’ll be able to meet the Baron and his family, kick back and enjoy some live music in the castle’s beautiful gardens and also purchase local produce at the old-style market stalls. Choose your picnic from the stalls of the traditional market, enjoy local produce beneath the five lime trees, explore the museum and its kitchen garden with a wide range of activities: this colourful event is the perfect combination of entertainment and culture. The stand-out feature of the festivities is the fashion parade competition: it’s open to all ages, and the only condition is that you have to dress in the 19th century’s fashions.

 

• Sunday 30th September 2018: Les Puces de Nyon, very scenic flea market in the pretty lakeside town of Nyon (VD). Grab a fab bargain or a delicious Italian ice-cream!

 

• until end of September 2018: the Musée Départemental des Sapeurs-Pompiers in Gex (France) re-opens this Saturday from 9am to midday and then from 2pm to 6pm in the afternoon. The museum is open every Saturday from 9am to 12pm and from 2pm to 6pm until the 26th of September, as well as every Wednesday and Sunday in July and August from 2pm to 6pm. Entry tickets are 5 € for adults and 3 € for kids. Musée Départemental des Sapeurs-Pompiers – 380 avenue des Alpes – 01170 Gex – FRANCE (Tel : 04 50 20 86 97).

 

ONGOING:

• From 4th October 2018-6th January 2019: “The Art of the Brick” at Geneva Palexpo. A unique exhibition that will impress all those who have played LEGO® at least once in their lifetime. Let yourself be amazed by Nathan Sawaya’s impressive sculptures, such as this T-Rex skeleton of more than 80,000 bricks. The artist explores all the possibilities: poetic installations, tribute to the collections of the great museums, imaginary worlds.

 

• until 14th October 2018: “Je suis ton père !”, an exhibition at the Maison d’Ailleurs which, thanks to the original approach of the thirteen international contemporary artists invited to Yverdon-les-Bains, deals with modern myths, and in particular the most famous of all: George Lucas’s Star Wars. Linked to the exhibition, there will be various kids workshops, free guided tours and other fun activities – click here for full details and to reserve your place.

 

• until 6th January 2019: due to its outstanding success and by popular demand, the exhibition “Fourmis la grande exposition” at the Muséum d’histoire naturelle, Genève (1, route de Malagnou) has been extended until the 6th of January 2019! Discover the fascinating, unknown universe of these tiny insects. FREE ENTRY only on the first Sunday of every month.

 

• The permanent exhibition “Noblesse Oblige” at Prangins Castle is a great day-out for the whole family. Take a step back in time with your children to see how a noble Swiss family lived in the 18th century! Find out more about this fantastic family exhibition in our previous post.