Switzerland events and festivals come in all shapes and sizes, and enjoying one or more during a Switzerland vacation can only add substance to the trip. Many visitors to the country plan their trips around specific festivals and events in Switzerland, such as Carnival, which is the most popular annual celebration. Numerous Switzerland festivals that are centered around the fine arts also attract their fair share of visitors, and they include the famous Lucerne Music Festival, which essentially lasts the entire summer. For those who can't make it to Switzerland in the summer for the Lucerne Music Festival, there is a countless amount of other Swiss music festivals to choose from.

Once February rolls around, Swiss natives start preparing for the king of the Switzerland festivals, which is Carnival. While Basel, Lucerne, and Zurich figure among the best places to enjoy the Swiss Carnival, it is celebrated with vigor across the land. Costumes and plenty of fanfare help to make the Carnival celebrations in Switzerland a blast, and a touch of absurdity also helps. Bern joins Basel, Lucerne, and Zurich as great places to celebrate Carnival, especially when a relatively riotous affair is what travelers have in mind. In addition to Carnival, the top annual events in Switzerland also include a list of music festivals, and the Lucerne Music Festival is one of the best.

The Lucerne Music Festival takes place in the summer months, and it employs various venues for its series of musical performances. This is one of the most renowned music festivals in Europe. Some of the other music festivals in Switzerland that are worth planning a trip around include the Gstaad Classic Music Festival and the Jungfrau Music Festival. Both of these Switzerland events take place in the Bernese Oberland region, which is known for its beautiful mountains and its attractive vacation destinations. The Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, or the Gstaad Classic Music Festival, is a week-long event that is held in January. Many of the performances for this cold-weather event incorporate the piano, and the overall atmosphere is enticing. Gstaad is one of Switzerland's top vacation destinations, and it is alive with people who are looking to enjoy some winter fun in the mountains. As for the Jungfrau Music Festival, it takes place in nearby Interlaken, which is also a top vacation destination. This week-long event, which is held in July, is all about music. It often features well-known musicians.

Switzerland Map

While some of the Switzerland festivals revolve around music, others have food as their focus. One of the more renowned Switzerland events that celebrates food is the St. Moritz Gourmet Festival. Chefs from Europe flock to this renowned February event, and they work with local colleagues to create a combination of satisfying dishes. Combine this event with some skiing in St. Moritz, and it hardly gets any better. While a number of annual events in Switzerland revolve around food, others highlight drinks. They include Weinmesse, which is a wine fair that is held in Basel in late October, and the Absinthe Festival, which celebrates one of the world's most notorious beverages. For those who are interested, the Absinthe Festival takes place in Boveresse during the month of June.

These are just some of the festivals and special events that are worth considering when trying to decide when to go to Switzerland. Others include the Caliente Tropical Festival in Zurich, which is a lively summertime event that draws in more than 100,000 visitors, and the White Turf Festival, which is held in February in St. Moritz. The White Turf Festival features horse races on the snow, and they are among Europe's most spectacular winter events. Since there are so many wonderful Swiss events and festivals, travelers will usually have an opportunity to enjoy one or more, even if they don't plan in advance. Since the top Switzerland events and festivals are extremely popular, hotels can fill up fast when they are going on. As such, anyone planning on enjoying activities such as Carnival or a major music festival will want to book their accommodations well in advance when possible.