Two million people flock to three-day Zurich festival

The first edition of the “Züri Fäscht” was held in 1951. © Keystone / Ennio Leanza

The Swiss city was the site of street parties, concerts, food stands and fireworks over the weekend.

The estimated two million at this year’s “Züri Fäscht” brought attendance levels close to those of the previous edition in 2019, organisers said after the party ended on Sunday evening.

Visitors ate, drank, danced, and watched various entertainment shows on the streets of the country’s biggest city from Friday to Sunday, in temperatures over 30°C.

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The event is held once every three years and is billed as Switzerland’s “biggest popular festival”. The 2022 edition was postponed due to Covid-19.

Zurich city police, responsible for traffic and crowd control, said around 30 people had been arrested over the weekend due to various incidents, but that no serious problems had been noted.

Environment efforts

Under pressure from local politicians, this year’s edition put in place a system to recycle plastic and aluminium for the first time, in an effort to become more “sustainable and respectful of the environment”.

In this vein, the city’s parliamentarians also want the headline fireworks show at the festival to be phased out for future editions and replaced by eco-friendly alternatives.