A region celebrates temporality

On the train that takes me home, I suddenly hear the Ranz des Vaches. A fellow passenger has obviously recorded this part of the performance and is now watching or listening to it. The other passengers smile in their tiredness: recognition, memory. Memories of the Fête des Vignerons performance they have just experienced, which only takes place once a generation. Remembrance too - the pensive attention of the 20,000 spectators and, more poignant today, the countless cell phone lights held high in the arena have just shown it - of something that we recognize as our own and yet is far away, so that longing arises. Homesickness in a way.

The fact that it is about remembrance and passing on traditions is also evident in the characters that form the central theme of the two-and-a-half-hour stage festival: The girl Julie is in the vineyard with her grandfather and experiences with him the course of the seasons, the development of the vegetation, the work on the vines, the events of life as a winegrower. Julie soon meets a figure in historical garb. "Je suis la mémoire", she introduces herself. It is the chairman of the Cent Suisses, a troupe of a hundred mercenaries who returned home from European courts around the time of the first winegrowers' festival. Like the aforementioned shepherd's song, which resounds down from the alpine pastures above the vineyards, they are an integral part of these performances: Strands of memory through the centuries.

This is the 12th edition of the Winegrowers' Festival since 1797. Every twenty years or so, the Confrérie des Vignerons organizes such an event, at the heart of which is the crowning of the most meticulous winegrowers. Among the thousands of participants, around thirty will be taking part for the fourth time: Periods that unquestionably give rise to a certain solemnity.

However, the Fête des Vignerons 2019 is not always the same celebration of old traditions, but is extremely contemporary, not only because of the stupendous technology, especially the huge stage floor made of LED components, which literally "underscores" the scenes. In the grape harvest scene, chrome steel tanks and harvest crates made of yellow plastic become instruments in a large percussion happening. The early summer work on the foliage develops into an unleashed cancan, performed in a variation of traditional Vaudois costume, the straw hats in bold red, the skirts lined with rustling ruffles: palpable energy. And the Cent Suisses, these guardians of the past, are joined by hundreds of women.

A total of 5600 amateur performers play and dance at the festival, 900 members of choirs from all over the region sing along, school choirs have been brought together, as have local brass bands. The director is Daniele Finzi Pasca from Ticino, who is known for his work with Cirque du Soleil, among other things; his images have the craziness and poetry of the circus. Their effect is supported by the texts by the Vaudois authors Stéphane Blok and Blaise Hofmann: often more associative clouds of concepts than action. Nevertheless, the focus is very clear: the here and now celebrates what is, what was and what will come, the "fleeting life", supported by an equally contemporary, holistic view of viticulture, society and the foundations of life.

Like a healthy vineyard, this performance is populated by animals: Ants, grasshoppers, butterflies, dragonflies, starlings. The musicians in particular appear in insect costumes. However, there are not very many of them, most of the instrumental music is recorded. A large live orchestra would probably also be unhappy with the acoustics, because despite the great effort, the sounds falter when there are sharp draughts of air. The compositions by Maria Bonzanigo, Valentin Villard and Jérôme Berney model the stage situations with catchy motifs, lively changes of time signature and striking repetitions. They make it swing and carouse, parade and ponder.

"La vie va trop vite," says Raoul Colliard, the oldest of the shepherds, before the Ranz des Vaches resounds. He is one of those who are experiencing their fourth and therefore probably last Winzerfest. His grandfather sang the song as a soloist at the 1927 edition. In 2019, his sons and grandchildren, and perhaps even great-grandchildren, will be there. So life doesn't just move (too) fast, it also renews itself. That is one of the insights to be gained here. In the picture "J'arrache", young gymnasts from the area perform volleys of daring jumps and next to them, disabled athletes form pyramids. With their strength, they all point to the vigor with which old vines are repeatedly uprooted and new ones planted: Making room for the next generation!

And when the Ranz des Vaches is also sung by the children's choir and by Julie alone, then that is perhaps a little didactic. But ultimately, this is exactly how traditions are passed on. The Trois Docteurs, humorous characters who appear again and again and, for example, dissolve the emotional mood after the shepherd's song into laughter by obsessively directing the most modern cleaning machines to the places where the cows' droppings lie, these three swear the participants and audience, especially the young ones among them, to the future at the end, to the next wine festival: "Vous y serez, au rendez-vous?" That wouldn't even be necessary. Traditions that are filled with life are not lost.
The Fête des Vignerons continues until August 11:
www.fetedesvignerons.ch/de/