What's on in Zürich, Switzerland through the year

Busy — Christmas holidays in Switzerland, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Plateau fog and inversion (25 Oct – 10 Feb (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Plateau fog and inversion (25 Oct – 10 Feb (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in March.

Peak crowds — Sechselauten, Easter holidays in Switzerland

• Festival

  Sechselauten

  20 AprMajor festivalCrowded

  The guilds parade on the third Monday of April and burn a snowman on a bonfire; how fast his head explodes is taken as the summer forecast. The city half-stops for the afternoon. Source ↗

Busy — Spring holidays in Switzerland, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Lake and river badi season

  10 May – 15 Sep · usuallySummer season opens

  The lake and river baths open in the middle of May and the city moves into them after work. The Limmat swim from the Frauenbad down through town is the local version.

Busy — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Lake and river badi season (10 May – 15 Sep (usually))

Busy — Summer holidays in Switzerland, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Lake and river badi season (10 May – 15 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — Street Parade, Summer holidays in Switzerland

• Festival

  Street Parade

  5–16 Aug · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  Close to a million people and a line of sound trucks around the lake basin on a Saturday in August. Free, and the city centre is not usable for anything else that day. Source ↗

Still on: Lake and river badi season (10 May – 15 Sep (usually))

Busy — Knabenschiessen, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Knabenschiessen

  12–14 SepMajor festivalCrowded

  A shooting competition for teenagers that is really a three-day city fair at the Albisguetli, with a Monday afternoon off for half of Zurich. Source ↗

Still on: Lake and river badi season (10 May – 15 Sep (usually))

Busy — Autumn holidays in Switzerland, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Plateau fog and inversion

  25 Oct – 10 Feb · usuallyFog season

  The lowland sits under a lid of grey for days at a time in late autumn and early winter. Forty minutes up any of the local hills usually puts you above it and into sun.

Busy — Christmas markets, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Christmas markets

  18 Nov – 24 Dec · usuallyChristmas & New YearCrowded

  Several markets within a tram ride: the covered one in the main station, the old town lanes, and the Sechselautenplatz. The singing tree at the Werdmuehleplatz is the odd one. Source ↗

Still on: Plateau fog and inversion (25 Oct – 10 Feb (usually))

Peak crowds — Christmas markets, Christmas holidays in Switzerland

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Plateau fog and inversion (25 Oct – 10 Feb (usually)), Christmas markets (18 Nov – 24 Dec (usually))