Olma fair turns 75

Flags and entrance of the first ever Olma Fest — Flags mark the entrance to the Olma festival in the 1940s. (Keystone) Keystone

A young woman with a record sized cabbage — How big is yours? A Thurgau woman shows off her giant three-metre cabbage at Olma 1957. (Keystone / Photopress-Archiv / Jules Vogt) Keystone / Photopress-Archiv / Jules Vogt

The Olma Arena, cows are displayed — Lap of honour: cattle strutting their stuff at the opening of Olma 1967 (Keystone) Keystone

A man shares out bread and sweets to the public — Handing out traditionally-prepared bread at Olma 1975 (Keystone) Keystone

Federal Councillor Willi Ritschard (right) — Cabinet minister Willi Ritschard (right) enjoying a drink at the opening of the 34th Olma festival in October 1976 (Keystone) Keystone

Federal Councillor Otto Stich, Heinz Christen — Plenty of big names come to Olma. Here, cabinet minister Otto Stich (left) has a laugh with festival president Heinz Christen in 1988. (Keystone) Keystone

girl and boy in traditional dress — Two traditionally-clad children strike a pose at Olma 1989, during a day dedicated to guest cantons Appenzell Inner Rhoden and Appenzell Ausser Rhoden. (Keystone) Keystone

Children in rain coats — Rain does not stop play at the 50th Olma Festival in 1992. (Keystone) Keystone

A huge fire of unknown causes destroyed the Olma-Halle, the traditional site for food-testing, in 2000. (Keystone / Rudolf Steiner) Keystone / Rudolf Steiner

Sheep and pig — An unlikely friendship forming during one of the many animal exhibitions of guest canton Graubunden at Olma 2003 (Keystone / Regina Kuehne) (Keystone/Regina Kuehne)

four wrestlers from Guinea-Bissau — Four wrestlers from Guinea-Bissau getting ready to square up with Swiss fighters at Olma 2007 (Keystone / Regina Kuehne) Keystone / Regina Kuehne

The Siegenthaler sisters from Stettfurt trying to convince their calf to shift itself during the young breeder competition in 2009 (Keystone / Regina Kuehne) Keystone / Regina Kuehne

Members of the “Top Secret Drum Corps” are not so secretive about showing their skills at a performance at Olma 2010. (Keystone / Ennio Leanza) KEYSTONE/Ennio Leanza

grilled sausages and man holding — Cabinet minister Ueli Maurer seems circumspect about this piglet at the official opening of Olma 2013. (Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller) Keystone Walter Bieri / Gian Ehrenzeller

Racing pigs — After a hard-fought battle, these racing pigs recuperate from their efforts at Olma 2013. (Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller) Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller

Johann Schneider-Ammann holds a piglet which struggling to get away — As happy as a pig in… cabinet minister Johann Schneider-Ammann makes a new friend at Olma 2015. (Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller) (Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller)

Artist wearing a monster costume with onlookers at the Olma parade — One of the ‘Baerger Joderteifel’, an association of masked characters from Liechtenstein, at Olma 2016, when that country was guest of honour. (Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller) Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller

The Olma fair in the city of St Gallen, showcasing agriculture and traditional food from around Switzerland, is one of the country’s biggest and most popular. This year it celebrates its 75th birthday. Visitors can expect pig races, cattle shows and of course the wafting allure of grilled local Bratwurst (sausage). Here we present some images from over the years.

This content was published on October 14, 2017 - 17:00

Born in England, I've lived in Switzerland since 1994. I trained as a graphic designer in Zurich between 1997 – 2002. More recently I have moved on to work as photo editor and joined the team at swissinfo.ch in March 2017.

Helen James

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