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Autumn in Geneva

Des enfants accompagnés de leur parent s'amusent dans le parc Trembley

Ideally suited to taking relaxing strolls to admire the warm colours of nature, autumn also offers you the opportunity to enjoy the pleasures of ice skating with the opening of the open-air ice rinks. Different events and large-scale happenings, such as the nuit genevoise de la photo, punctuate the season’s cultural agenda.

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L'île Rousseau pendant la saison automnale avec ses arbres en couleurs

Glowing autumnal colours

If the summer is now behind us, autumn continues to offer us every reason to enjoy a relaxed stroll, the warm colours transforming the parks of Geneva into an explosion of yellows, reds and browns. This pageant is particularly captivating when you wander through the great expanses of greenery close to the lake, such as Parc La Grange or the Perle du Lac. The Bois de la Bâtie offers a particularly pleasant walk for children, who can explore the wildlife park and extend their walk by creating amusing origami using autumn leaves.

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Des jeunes s'amusent en patinant au sein de l'une des patinoires à ciel ouvert de Genève

Pleasures of skating

For skating fans, autumn means the opening of the seasonal ice rinks offering open-air skating in the city, for example in the Parc des Bastions or in the district of Les Charmilles. Every year in November, to celebrate sliding sports, the Fête de la Glace offers a full day of demonstrations and introductions to ice skating and ice hockey, all to a backdrop of music.

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Une tarte aux pruneaux que l'on mange lors du jeûne genevois

Geneva tradition

On the Thursday after the first Sunday in September, the Jeûne genevois is a public holiday in the Canton of Geneva referring back to an ancient moral and religious practice. While this special day is no longer subject to any dietary restrictions, it is traditional to enjoy a piece of prune cake.

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Un plat de crudités présenté lors de la Semaine du Goût

Local flavours

Autumn is also synonymous with gastronomy, with the Semaine du Goût designed to tickle your taste buds with delicious and resolutely local offerings. Every year, for a period of ten days, the event gives pride of place to home-made food, joining forces with restaurant owners in Geneva to create menus paying homage to local agricultural products. Tastings and debates focus on healthy eating while supporting the local economy.

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Logo d'événement No'Photo qui a lieu tous les automnes à Genève

Festivals of images

As for Geneva’s cultural offerings, No’photo, Geneva’s photography night, is the not-to-be-missed event in October, paying homage to contemporary photographic art. It is followed in November by major film festivals, such as Filmar en América Latina and GIFF, the Geneva International Film Festival, which also explores television and digital formats.

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Seasonal gardening

Thanks to the tips provided by the gardeners of the Parks and Gardens Department, you can check out videos offering ideas for what to do with your dead leaves, how to turn your lawn into a flower meadow or how to prune your roses... Gardening in autumn is anything but monotonous!

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Des personnes participent à l'édition 2005 du festival Fureure de lire

Major events during the autumn

Discover all the not-to-be-missed activities in Geneva during the autumn as well as the events and happenings in the city’s online diary.

Article modifié le 30.09.2022 à 11:05