Fête des Vignerons

Monday, August 22, 2016

Preparations are already underway for a major event that will take place from 26 July to 11 August 2019 in Vevey, Switzerland. The Fête des Vignerons (Winegrowers Festival) is not only a special occasion because it takes place in irregular intervals about every 25 years. The engagement of the town’s population also lends it its special charm. Participants are mostly laypeople who act, sing, and dance. The festival has been held in its current form since 1797, and before that there were parades. A major part of the festival used to be crowning the best vineyard worker, an event that incorporated elements of the four seasons along with mythological figures such as Bacchus and Ceres.

Festival music was first composed in 1851, which not only set specially written festival poems to music, but also accompanied the entrance of the Brotherhood of Winegrowers and soloists with marches and dances. The composer of the first festival music was Franz Gabriel Grast (1803-1871), a professor of voice and theory at the conservatory in Geneva. Grast was also responsible for the music for the Fête des Vignerons in 1865.

In 1889, Franz Ludwig Hugo von Senger (1832-1892) took care of the music. Born in Nördlingen (Bavaria), he was at this time the leader of the Société de l’Orchestre in Geneva and prior to that had worked in St. Gallen, Zürich, and Lausanne.

What’s more summery than a wine festival? To continue the celebration, browse the over 1400 sources for wine in the RISM online catalog.

Image: Fête des Vignerons de Vevey 1889, via Wikimedia Commons

Category: Events