In the heart of the Jardin Doret, the Espace Jeune Public will propose every day, several times daily, shows or entertainment for families or children.
The Musée des contes et récits will propose “Once upon a time in Switzerland”, tales from each of the Swiss cantons. The Musée des contes et récits (a museum of tales and stories) joins the Fête des Vignerons to reveal and pass on to the younger generations a few pearls of the Swiss oral tradition and literature at the Chalet des contes suisses (the cottage of Swiss fairy tales).
The performing arts company La Toupine d’Alain Benzoni, reputed amongst youth audiences internationally, is coming with several proposals: first is “a cow-rousel and his Orgamoo”, a merry-go-round that presents children with a very unique herd:
the “bovine bi-plane”, the “cow angel”, the “bum-bull bee”, the silly rocket, the cow on wheels, the up-side-down cow, the cow dancer, the skating cow, the musician cow, and the swimming cow.
Then there’s the Alpine Bestiary, an ecological carousel theatre made of driftwood and consisting of iconic Alpine animals that live above 1500 meters – a wolf, a snipe, a marmot, an ibex, a fox, a yeti, a royal eagle. It comes to life thanks to its presenter, who takes us into his world at every turn, and a swing for parents to push.
Then a “Zanimal – the merry-go-forth”, is a new concept: an animal, a child, a parent walking in tow, a whole troupe of lit-up and noisy animals (frog, swan, pig, ladybug, bear, elephant, dragon, rabbit, fox, duck) will be there to greet your little marmots ages 2 and up.
And the “Orgarêve” (organ-dream) and its happy clouds, a merry-go-round that houses a special musical organ: 48 alphorn pipes, mechanical piano, accordion, musical bottles and percussion …
The Compagnie Mine de Rien offers for its part “Cinderella leads the dance” and “Snow White”: Joane Reymond, storyteller-wacky clown, wants you to rediscover these mythical tales in a funny and exhilarating version.

The Compagnie Octopus landed with his “Mini Playdough Circus”: the largest mini-circus in the world, which can accommodate up to 40 children (maximum height 1m40 or 4ft 5in), comes to the festival equipped with only a few balls of clay to shape with a clever twist of the hand.
At the gates to the Jardin Doret, on the Scène de l’Aviron located on the Quai Maria-Belgia, a Swiss first: the Burattini family offers in its enchanted caravan the “Little museum of fairy tales” and “You have beautiful eyes, Carabosse”, an illustrious puppet theater that faithfully breathes new life into Charles Perrault’s tales

Every night, a poetic and dreamlike Parade de nuit will finish off the day. From the Jardin Doret to Entre-deux-Villes at 9.30 pm on days of the daytime main show, and from the Arena to Entre-deux-Villes at 11.45 pm on days of the nightly shows (except the 18th July, where it will depart at 10.45 pm outside the Arena), it will bring together 30 some-odd actor-performers who will hold a musical parade with illuminated costumes that evoke the seasons of the winemakers.

In 2019, the long-awaited processions of historical tradition will be on display. Once again, the processions will pass through one part of town to the next for the pleasure of the Veveysans and spectators from all over Switzerland and elsewhere. Some are as short as 600 metres, but the longest may stretch out 2 kilometres. The processions will take many forms, and each is unique. From the parade of the official authorities in the morning during the processions of the Confrérie des Vignerons and the cantons almost every afternoon (depending on individual performances), the festivities will last until the end of the day with an evening parade that will ignite the streets like fireworks. From the costumes of the Fête des Vignerons to the costumes, dances and traditional songs of the invited cantons and their delegations, no two processions will be the same. Free of charge, they are integrated into the Ville en Fête and Cantonal Days entertainment.

The first and the largest of all the processions is the Coronation Parade, July 18. It will bring together more than 6000 participants around 2 pm, and pass through the city from the Place du Marché to the Tour-de-Peilz, along the lakefront to then arrive at the Vevey train station through rue d’Italie and rue du Simplon. Les Cent Suisses and the Troupe d’Honneur will proceed with the procession walking to the rhythm of the drums. Their fife flutes resonate far ahead to announce the arrivals of the winegrowers, who have just been crowned, prized or distinguished. Following them are the Confrérie des Vignerons, but also all the troupes, dancers to starlings, fishermen to master-tailors, with choral and musical harmonies as well as brass bands.

Two other processions, including half of the actor-performers will take place Saturday, July 27 at 3 pm and Saturday, August 10 at 3 pm. Twelve cantonal processions are held at 12 pm, 3 pm or 5 pm from Entre-deux-Villes to the Jardin du rivage as well as 13 cantonal parades in the morning.

As in 1999, the canton of Fribourg and the district of the Veveyse will provide its own space during the festival at the Jardin Doret, called Méjon Friboua. Under the aegis of Fribourgissima Image Fribourg, the canton of Fribourg will offer a restaurant serving local products, an exhibition space that presents the canton in a contemporary and playful way, and a space for the Fête des Vignerons herdsmen who will take care of the animals and propose events, choirs and other musical entertainment, throughout the festival. The more prominent presence of the canton of Fribourg at the Fête des Vignerons in comparison to any of the other Swiss cantons comes from the naturally close, cultural, economic and agricultural ties that have always existed between Vevey, the district of Veveyse and Fribourg. Under the slogan “Fribourg: happiness and more“, this modern exhibition space will notably include a staging of the seasons and the highlights of the life of the canton as well as an innovative and exciting Live Poy’Art interactive. The restaurant, a large canteen with two floors facing the lake with 500 seats, proposes its fondues, macaroni and cottage soups, cured meats, its famous ham “jambon de la borne”, Vully cake and other regional desserts. As for the Armaillis de la Veveyse (the herdsmen), they will offer multiple demonstrations of milking cows, making Gruyère cheese, and traditional song in their ephemeral cottage. In addition, the young team at Radio NRV (the new Veveyse radio station) will cover the whole affair with their fresh perspective.

On May 21, the arena barely opened to the actor-performers for their first on-site rehearsals, will unlock an exceptional ephemeral place: the Terrasses de la Confrérie. This lake-side platform adjacent to the arena, official reception area of festival, offers an idyllic view of Lake Geneva morning into the night, on three levels and so many different moods, a place to meet up with friends and, of course, to eat, any time. A Vaudois wine bar, a cheese bar, carts of garnished toasts, variety platters, sweets and savoury Vaudois specialities and ice cream for the entire family, a cocktail lounge and finally a rooftop terrace with evening music: the Terrasses de la Confrérie will be the place to be at the event and from springtime onward the right spot to soak up the festival!

Specific breakfast offers or cocktails and appetizers are provided for groups from ten people.

All festival spots, including the cellars associated with the event, will serve the festival wines. Wine has always been, logically, at the heart of all the Fêtes des Vignerons. Novelty of the 2019 edition: a vintage 2017 of the festival was already released in the fall of 2018, and has seen great success in terms of sales ever since. This was repeated with the harvest of 2018, which will be served once supplies of the 2017 have been depleted. Four wines were developed: a white and a red from Lavaux, a white and a red from Chablais, the two regions of the Confrérie. The Obrist and Badoux wineries provided the production, two iconic houses of Lavaux and Chablais. Two white wines are Chasselas and the red is a classic combination of Pinot and Gamay. In addition to the four wines of the festival, there will be two prestige cuvées. Only in white, either of the Chasselas, from two emblematic terroirs of Lavaux and Chablais: the Dézaley and the Yvorne. These premium wines will be available at the beginning of the festival. The grapes were harvested in vineyards selected from ones more regularly getting top marks in visits from experts of the Confrérie des Vignerons. Only 5000 bottles of each premium wine will be produced, including magnums. Prestige wines will be the vintage 2017, since these wines need to mature for longer. In addition to these two cuvées, the beginning of the festival will also see a rosé, sold exclusively in 50 cl bottles, an assemblage of Pinot and Gamay, PDO Vaud. A sparkling wine, essential to all celebrations, will indeed also appear at the opening of the festivities. The latter will be made from Chardonnay Vaudois, and will be offered at all establishments located within the perimeter of the festival.