Fête des Vignerons

The tradition & historical record

The Fête des Vignerons (French: [fɛt de viɲ(ə)ʁɔ̃]; lit. 'Winegrowers' Festival') is a traditional festival which takes place in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been organised by the Confrérie des Vignerons ('Brotherhood of Winegrowers') in Vevey since 1797. The organising committee is free to choose how often the festival takes place, but the idea is that it is held once in a generation. Up to now, the interval between two festivals has varied between 14 and 28 years. The most recent festival took place in July and August 2019, 20 years after the preceding one (1999). The festival features a show celebrating the world of winemaking; performances take place in the Vevey marketplace on the shores of Lake Geneva, and other festivities are organised around the town. Since 2016, the Fête des Vignerons has been included in UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage. The 2019 edition of the festival was recommended as one of National Geographic's "world's most exciting destinations", one of The New York Times's "places to go in 2019" and was listed in The Guardian's "Where to go in 2019" list. ¹

The origin of the Fête des Vignerons lies in the processions of the Vevey Confrérie des Vignerons. These processions are believed to have started in the Middle Ages. At that time, the Confrérie des Vignerons was called the Abbaye de l'Agriculture. In 1647 the Abbaye de l'Agriculture was only a small association. It grew during the 18th century and by 1776 almost a quarter of Vevey's male population had become members. It was never a gathering of vineyard workers, as its current name would suggest, but of landholders who entrusted the care of their vineyards to those workers. A small group of experts from the Confrérie visited the vines at different times of year to judge and classify the quality of work of the winegrowers, an activity that continues to this day. The Abbot-Presidents (presidents of the council of the Confrérie) were, and still are, most often members of the City Councils, lawyers, notaries or judges. Around 1770 the Confrérie des Vignerons decided on its aim of encouraging improvements in winegrowing and rewarding the vineyard workers' good results, instead of concentrating on any possible failings. The best vineyard workers paraded through the town of Vevey together with members of the Confrérie. The archives of the Confrérie des Vignerons first record a parade in 1651, but it is probable that the parades started before that date. The parade followed a general meeting where the vineyard workers' results were commented on and criticised and was followed by a banquet. The parades took the form of a pageant, with musicians and singers. In 1730 the parade included a small boy on top of a wine barrel playing the role of Bacchus. From 1741, the parades were held every three years. ¹

Due to the unrest of the Vaudoise Revolution, then the Napoleonic Wars, the following years did not allow for a new celebration. It would take twenty-two years, until 1819, before a new celebration was organized. The 1819 celebration took place from August 5 to 6 presided over by Abbot-President Louis Levade who had presided over the first staged spectacle in 1797. About 730 actors and performers participated in a 2,000-seat arena. As the canton of Vaud had recently joined the Swiss Confederation, the theme of this first 19th century celebration glorified tradition and patriotism. The traditional song "Ranz des vaches" was sung for the first time at the Fête des Vignerons. The organiser Counsellor Walther, considered that the spectacle had become complicated enough to need a director, the dance master David Constantin, and a musical director, David Glady, who selected and arranged the music and texts. The third Fête des Vignerons took place from 8 to 9 August 1833 under the direction of Abbot-President Vincent Doret. About 780 actors and performers participated in a 4,000-seat arena, once again organised by Counsellor Walther under the direction of David Constantin. Walther commissioned Samuel Glady (son of David Glady) to compose original music to complement songs from the traditional repertoire. Costumes were designed by Theophile Steinlen. In 1851, the fourth Fête des Vignerons was held from 7 to 8 August under the direction of the Abbot-President François Déjoux. François Grast was engaged to write a complete musical score, giving the fourth Fête a stylistic unity and bringing the music and staging to the fore. About 900 actors and performers participated in an 8,000-seat arena under the direction of Benjamin Archinard. ¹

The seventh Fête des Vignerons took place from 4 to 9 August 1905. The Abbot-President at the time was the national councillor Emile Gaudard. René Morax wrote the libretto and directed the spectacle. Gustave Doret composed the music. The 1905 Fête des Vignerons was notable in that the procession become a secondary element as well as being the first celebration not to restrict the participation of women and girls. About 1,800 actors and performers participated in an arena with 12,500 seats. From 1 to 9 August 1927, the eighth Fête des Vignerons was presided over by the same Abbot-President as the previous one, Emile Gaudard, then Switzerland's delegate to the League of Nations. The production was directed by Edouard Vierne (René Morax declined the invitation), replaced by A. Durec a few weeks before the event, while the music was composed as at the previous celebration by Gustave Doret with a libretto by Pierre Girard. The costumes and scenery were designed by Ernest Bieler and the choreographer was Georges Meriadec. About 2,000 performers participated, gathered in a 14,000-seat arena inspired by a medieval city surrounded by a wall and towers. ¹

In 1955, the Fête des vignerons took place from August 1 to 15, presided over by the Abbot-President David Dénéréaz. In a context of increasing entertainment possibilities, barely a decade after the end of the Second World War, the organisation became more professional: it was the first festival to have an international focus, more than doubling its capacity compared to the previous one (the first performances were not entirely sold out, but additional ones were organised following their success). The show was directed by Oscar Eberlé to music by Carlo Hemmerling and a libretto by Géo H. Blanc. ¹

On 1 December 2016 the Fête des Vignerons was added to UNESCO's Representative List of the intangible cultural heritage of Humanity. It is the first Swiss tradition to be included. The twelfth Fête des Vignerons was held from 18 July to 11 August 2019. It was presided over by Abbot-President François Margot and was directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca. The music was composed by Maria Bonzanigo (musical director), Jérôme Berney and Valentin Villard, while the libretto was the work of Stéphane Blok and Blaise Hofmann. The scenography was by Hugo Gargiulo, Bryn Walters was the choreographer and the costumes were designed by Giovanna Buzzi. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Fête des Vignerons”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Fête des Vignerons is event in Vevey, Switzerland, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 8 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²