Comic Slam and other stuff going down in Winterthur

There is some good alternative entertainment in Winterthur this coming week and weekend.

At the Theatre Casino, Familie Hinztagram, an improvisation event, is already a sellout next Tuesday. In this story, it all goes haywire with the family Hinz as the audience dictates how the family should live. The creativity of the audience will have no limits and everything is possible. For chaos is taken care of, and daughter Leah posting this diligently on Instagram. The event includes a special improvisation theatre for young people.

At Winterthur's Alte Kaserne on Saturday from 8pm, nine illustrators and graphic artists will compete against each other while inspired by suggestions from the audience which then chooses the best cartoon. Amongst those present are Daniel Bosshart, who is a well known figure on stage. Zea Schaad, who has designed the funky logo for the event (pictured above) will also step into the ring.

Nibbles galore at Zurich Street Food Festival

Get set for Zurich Street Food Festival throughout the weekend, which luckily coincides with ZVV's free day of transport on Sunday!

The 3^rd Zurich Street Food Festival takes place at the Dolder Ice Rink from today until Sunday (29^th - 31^st May)

More than 100 food stalls will be featuring delicacies from all over the world for visitors to try. All vendors are housed in creative food trucks and market booths.

Take note - there is no parking – so you will have to make your way by public transport, bike or foot (don't you just love the Swiss and their green ways?) And getting there by public transport is of course pretty easy from Zurich central:

• Take the Dolderbahn from Römerhof
• Take the No. 6 or No. 30 bus to the zoo
• Take Tram No. 5 to Kirche Fluntern
• Take bus No. 751 to Dreiwiesen

Zurich Street Food Festival takes place from 5-11pm today (Friday) 11am-11pm tomorrow (Saturday) and 11am until 7pm on Sunday.

En guete!

www.streetfoodfest.ch

Expedition Wunderland arrives in town

I love going to shows. I miss going to shows here. Mainly because my grasp of the language isn't anywhere near sufficient, rather than there being a shortage of shows. In fact, there seems to be lots going on in Winterthur a lot of the time. And I should put aside my own needs and take my daughters to more of them as they too love shows. And of course they speak the language far better than me.

So this is why I have 'booked' two places for Expedition Wunderland, an improvisational comedy show geared towards children taking place at Gaswerks next month (although the piccy of an Indiana Jones look-alike helped!) We found out about this as Poppy's teacher gave the flyers out at school and mentioned that John, who used to help out in Poppy's class, is playing a role in the production.

John was one of those amazing teenagers who the hormonal thing seems to have completely passed by.  He was 16, incredibly polite, always smiling, very bright - just finishing Gymnasium and looking towards an even brighter future. It wasn't just Poppy who was gutted when he left her school as classroon helper last summer to move onto bigger and better things.

So of course we had to show our support. And I've never been to an 'impro-show' - and this particular show seems to be entirely directed by suggestions from the audience!

The reservation process is very strange - I have just booked two places on the website giving my name, number and address and not yet paid a penny! But it definitely registered because when I logged off the website and back on again the total availability - 120 - had gone down to 118. So watch this space...

The show, presented by Redaktion, takes place on Saturday 13th June between 1pm and 3.15pm and the age recommendation is 7-11 years. The address of the location is the Gaswerks Cultural Center, Untere Schöntalstrasse 19, 8401 Winterthur.

Admission is CHF 20, CHF 15 for concessions.

www.redaktion-winterthur.ch

FamExpo Winterthur 2015 this weekend

The FamExpo 2015 Winterthur celebrates its 10^th anniversary as it arrives in town this weekend, bringing exhibitors from Switzerland and abroad to demonstrate and inform about their products.

Dedicated family councillor Barbara Schmid-Federer will open the FamExpo at Winterthur Eulachhallen this Friday (29th) at 9:45am before the exhibitions launch at 10am, featuring:

• A live broadcast from PowerUp where visitors can submit song requests and see behind the scenes of a live radio station.
  
  
• A stage show from Billy & Benno, with their funny, upbeat children's songs, which the whole family can take part in.
  
  
• Former kindergarten teacher and music teacher Christian Schenker who has written songs for children will be performing together with his band Grüüveli Tüüfeli.
  
  
• Winterthur artist Bruno Hächler will present his new CD featuring Jap, the dog who comes from England and drinks tea all day.
  
  
• Circus Mugg will provide thrills for both young and old with a show followed by an interactive Animation Station where the little ones can get creative with circus props under the expert guidance of the young artists. 
  
  
• The Tierli interactive show features cute little dogs doing tricks.
  
  
• The FamExpo-Lotto featuring funny face cards for young visitors – there will be toys, clothes and accessories up for grabs.
  
  
• Photographer Oscar Brunet will be at the Baby Face booth to capture your little pride of joy for the Baby Face 2015 contest in a picture you can take home for free!

It's all going on at Winterthur Eulachhallen, Wartstrasse 73 - a 15/20min walk down Wartstrasse which runs from behind Winterthur HB. Alternatively you can take the bus No.1 to Toss or the No.2 to Wulflingen for part of the way for a shorter walk there. Going by car is not recommended as there are very few parking places – but there is a special offer on the price of your public transport ticket if you are visiting FamExpo.

Opening times are 10am until 6pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (29th-31^st May)
Admission 15chf for over 18s – under 18s are free.

www.famexpo.ch

Enjoying the Chilbi funfair on Knabenschiessen

We enjoyed a lovely day off today to celebrate Knabenschiessen, which sounds rather rude for an English girl like me. Knabenschiessen is not actually an official holiday but schools take the Monday off and many businesses close for the afternoon.

The literal translation of Knabenschiessen, is 'boys shooting,' referring to an event harking back to the 17th century when competitions were held for the Schützenkönig (King of the Marksmen) with the aim of encouraging young boys to get excited about shooting and their future military service.

The event is now a weekend celebration and the actual shooting takes place at the shooting range in Albisgüetli in south-west Zurich. Knabenschiessen competitors (girls have been allowed to paricipate since 1991) must be between the ages of 13 and 17 years and live or go to school in the Canton of Zurich. For the entry fee of 12 Swiss Francs, competitors receive the right to participate, ammunition and a Bratwurst. Each year, 35'000 rounds are shot during Knabenschiessen.

Funnily enough Albisgüetli didn't feature on tram No.13 as expected when I leapt on it with my two daughters outside Zurich HB this morning. The destination was instead Laubegg where the 'Chilbi' fun fair was taking place to mark it. The rest of the tram line has been closed for the fair so I think the idea is that you walk along the tram line through the Chibli to the event at Albisgüetli, although we didn't get that far. We were too busy enjoying the fair.

And boy was it big and busy! We had a great time, consuming Bratwurst, Chnoblibrot (garlic bread) and supping slushies while enjoying a few rides and some weird and wonderful sights. Apparently there was a happy half hour at some point today where all the rides are free but I have no idea when that was – hopefully I'll be more clued up next time round. Happy Knabenschiessen!