About the Swiss Wine Festival

The Swiss Wine Festival was the brain-child of a few local business leaders who wanted to give a little something back to the community in which they lived. They also wanted to provide local clubs and organizations with a venue to raise money for their projects. The festival was able to do both. It became an event that not only gave the community a chance to get together and have some fun, but it also provided an opportunity for outsiders to get a better view of what a great community we have in Vevay, Indiana.

The first Swiss Wine Festival was held in 1968. It had a flea market on the Courthouse lawn, grape stomping, and stein-tossen. Six years and many thousands of people later, the festival was proclaimed "too big" and was discontinued. A local event called "The Patchwork Fair" took its place for five years.

The festival was reborn in 1979 as the "Swiss Alpine Festival" with emphasis on family involvement, a fenced-in festival site, and an admission charge. A clean, safe, and popular new festival was begun. The Alpine theme included a Swiss Costume Contest, the blowing of the Alp horn, a parade, arts and crafts exhibits, and polka dancing. A tour of historic homes was also held.

A few years later, the community decided to once again pay homage to its winemaking history and added a "Wine Tent" featuring Indiana wineries. The festival was called the "Swiss Wine Festival" again.

In 1997, the Festival was held for the first time in the Paul W. Ogle Riverfront Park. In addition to traditional events, it features a fireworks display over the river, a chartered paddle wheeler for river cruises, and a duck race.

As the festival has grown, many of the events and activities are ran by local clubs or organizations and these organizations then get funding for their involvement.

The Swiss Wine Festival now takes its place as a valuable event for local people as well as visitors, focusing on Vevay and Switzerland County's cultural heritage. All in all the Swiss Wine Festival is an event created by the community, ran by the community and supports the community as a real coming together of our local talents and interests.