Fall Festivals

If you want to see cows and enjoy cheese and local traditions, the Chasteilet in the Justistal near Thun and Interlaken is scheduled for September 16, 2022. It’s an amazing festival in a beautiful valley where large wheels of cheese are distributed to the local farmers. People gather in traditional garb, and the cows are adorned with flowers and bells before being led down the road to where they will winter. There is spontaneous singing, food to buy, and wine as well.

Locals and guests are invited to attend this festival. After the Chästeilet, the farmers move back to Sigriswil with their cows decorated with flowers and treicheln. They move down the valley in different groups, so once the first group starts down, you can set up along the road between the festival site and the café for some photos or video.

https://www.interlaken.ch/en/planning/events/top-events/chaesteilet-justistal

https://www.sigriswil.ch/de/veranstaltungen/detail/detail.php?i=21454&highlight=ch%C3%A4steilet

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/experiences/events/chaeseteilet-im-justistal/

We took a special festival day bus from Thun to the Gron Parkplatz and walked to Spicherberg, the festival site. Afterwards, we walked to Beatenberg-Niederhorn (about an hour) and took the funicular to Beatenbucht and the regular bus back to Thun.

Spicherberg is about a 40 minute drive from Interlaken and 35 minutes from Thun, but there is a driving ban near Spicherberg the day of the festival.

The Chästeilet in Stechelberg is Sept. 24. I’m not sure if they have a big cow parade or not.

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/experiences/events/kaeseteilet-stechelberg/

This link describes other alpine cow festivals:

https://madeinbern.com/en/experiences/year-round/events/top-cultural-events/alpine-cattle-processions

The Alpabzug/ Alpabfahrt/ Alpabfahrten (festivals where the cows are decorated with flowers and return to lower pastures before winter) are great fun to attend. You can search those terms to find smaller local celebrations. Some aren’t scheduled until close to the actual day.

Also, many towns and cities have market days with lots of local food for sale in a festival-like atmosphere.

All the best,

Raymond

Here are a few events that I have attended:
(some websites are in German, sorry)

https://cheese-festival.ch/kaesefeste/
This festival travels to various places, you will see the locations and dates listed. I went to the one in Thun several years ago. It was much like the other street markets we have, but every stand has something to do with cheese. Many local dairy farmers are represented. Lots of samples available - from cubes of cheese to samples of cheese fondue.

Gstaad, September 3rd
https://madeinbern.com/en/experiences/year-round/events/top-cultural-events/alpine-cattle-processions/gstaad-zueglete
This is the traditional return of the cows from the alpine pastures parade. This one goes right down the swanky Main Street of Gstaad. 
Like all of the alpabzug events, the cows will be beautifully decorated and have the ceremonial, extra large cow bells on.

Boltigen, September 3rd
https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/experiences/events/bauernmarkt-boltigen/
Here is the flyer for it:
https://lenk-simmental.ch/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/FlyerA5_6seitig_BauernmarktBoltigen_2022_Scherenschnitt_Web.pdf
I came upon this event by accident on my way home to Thun from the Gstaad alpabzug. Saw it from the train and hopped off. It is a fun event, lots of local products, a food and beverage tent, alphorn blowing, etc. You will find mostly locals here and thus will get a real Swiss experience.

Schüpfheim, September 24th
This is not small, in fact it is one of the largest alpabzug events, but this is so much fun that I am including it as well.
https://www.biosphaere.ch/en/activities/summer/kultur-genusserlebnisse/the-entlebuch-cattle-drive/

There are many, many more events like this all over.
Here is where you can browse a bit for yourself. Set the filters in the top left to narrow down your search, be sure to look through the list of “Expert recommendations” as well, such as customs and traditions or alpine festivals. 
https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/experiences/events/events-search/