Freiburg cheese – The first Swiss fondue festival causes trouble – News


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The Moité-moité fondue is Fribourg’s greatest pride. Nevertheless: A festival in his honor reaps criticism.

A life without fondue? For many Freiburg residents unthinkable. “Cooking and eating fondue is part of my DNA,” says Dominique de Buman. The former mayor of Freiburg and member of the National Council organizes the first Swiss fondue festival. In Freiburg, of course, right in the city center. “Our region can play all its trump cards at the fondue festival,” de Buman is convinced.

Not everyone in Freiburg shares Buman’s euphoria. On the one hand, there are the market traders. Every Wednesday they offer their goods on Georges-Python-Platz. Actually. Because a month ago they had to move their stands to the small and narrow side streets. The reason: The construction of the tent specially made for the festival started.

The fondue festival in figures


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  • The festival in downtown Freiburg started on November 17 and lasts four days.
  • The organizers expect 15,000 visitors.
  • One million Swiss francs – that’s the budget of the festival. A third of this comes from the canton, the city of Friborg and the industry associations of Gruyere and Vacherin cheese.
  • The festival tent is 30 meters wide, 40 meters long and 16 meters high.
  • The fondue festival is to take place every two years in the future.

“Since we moved, it’s more difficult for customers to find their favorite stand,” says Vincenzo Abate, President of the Freiburg Market Association. The consequence: the market stalls sell less. “We have lost sales of up to thirty percent.” The organizers of the fondue festival are not responsible for this, but the city. “They finally gave the approval for the festival.” Abate now wants to work with the city to find solutions – for any further editions of the fondue festival in Freiburg.

«The infrastructure is not sustainable»

There is also criticism of the festival from politics. Because the fondue tent is heated with oil. “Heating oil is bad for the environment. The tent is huge. It has a volume of several family apartments,” complained the SP local politician Marc Vonlanthen. “We are in the middle of an energy crisis. We keep talking about sustainability. But such an infrastructure is definitely not sustainable.”

Legend:

The fondue tent caused criticism. It was specially made for the festival and is heated with oil.

SRF/Oliver Kempa

Dominique de Bauman knows this criticism. “We started planning the festival four years ago. The energy crisis wasn’t an issue then.” And it wasn’t organizationally possible to do without the tent, especially not at such short notice. “We try to be as sustainable as possible. We have a recycling system. And the electricity we need comes 100 percent from hydropower.” And the oil heater? “We are working on a more environmentally friendly solution for future expenses,” promises Dominique de Buman.

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