40th Basel Christmas market opens today
Basel’s annual Christmas market celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. More than 180 stalls with a wide range of products and novelty items will today open to the public. The market will also include Claraplatz, where the original market began in 1978. And apart from the distribution of Christmas trees, there haveso far been no major problems.
For its 40th anniversary, Basel’s Christmas market organisers want to put more emphasis on the city centre – the place where most people are. Repeated calls for the opening ceremony to be returned to the Marktplatz have fallen on deaf ears, but there will be more events at this central location over the next few weeks.
This year, also the Kleinbasel side of the Rhine will not be left out – after all, the very first Christmas market in Basel was held at Claraplatz in 1978. This year, as a novelty, the “Sennhütte” is offering culinary delights, and the market at Claraplatz will be open until 9.30pm in general. This is one hour longer than anywhere else in Basel. The “Adväntsgass” in Rheingasse will also be expanded.
Almost the same number of stalls despite construction site
Regardless of the Stadtcasino construction site at Barfüsserplatz, almost the same number of stalls will be open during Christmas market – 181 in total. Two of these stalls have been part of the market for 40 years: one by Yves Born at Barfüsserplatz, and a stall by Werner Köpfer, whose partner is taking over the tradition after he sadly passed away last year. Other stalls have been a part of the Christmas market for 39 years, and there are five new vendors.
To counteract the Stadtcasino construction site, the theatre passage will this year be decorated with the help of Christmas specialist, Johann Wanner. Also, the Christmas pyramid is now in front of the Barfüsserkirche instead of behind the church this time.
Basel Tattoo 2018 includes top-class Swiss performers and even more bagpipes
The Basel Tattoo presents a new show concept, organisational improvements, and an impressive program for 2018. More bagpipes and regional formations will form a core part of the world-famous event next year. A change in show times during weekdays will allow visitors to enjoy the spectacle in an even more relaxed manner.
The organisers of the Basel Tattoo put their focus for 2018 on more traditional Scottish influences. Increased emphasis on bagpipe music and Swiss elite and international world-class formations will present the Basel Tattoo 2018 in a new, brilliant light. More than 200 bagpipers and drummers will form the Massed Pipes and Drums – they certainly will evoke goose bumps in the audience more than once during performances.
Ten formations from four continents will take the audience on a trip through the Scottish Highlands. The Swiss Army Central Band, the “national team” of Swiss wind instrument bands, will also be part of the event. They have been met with success and applause across the world, and know how to combine different music genres, sophisticated showpieces, as well as humorous elements.
And another Swiss group will guarantee a grand spectacle: The Top Secret Drum Corps returns to the Basel Tattoo. After many performances on international stages, the young and wild drum acrobats are looking forward to playing at home.
Top formations from all over the world will complete the first-class programmeand offer a touching atmosphere: The Heeresmusikkorps from Ulm is a guest in Basel and promises a varied performance with surprising moments. The more than 100 members of the Banda Monumental de Mexico are full of vivacity and passion. With Aztec dancers and joyous Mariachi music, they will bring part of their culture to Basel. To complete the field of top-class performers, The Orchestra of the 194 Pontoon Bridge Regiment from the Ukraine, the United States Army Europe Band & Chorus, and the 50 best Highland dancers from Canada as well as the Canadiana Celtic Highland Dancers will perform at the Basel Tattoo 2018.
Erik Julliard, Basel Tattoo producer, says: “I am looking forward to a grand show with a Scottish influence, impressive Swiss performers, and international world-class bands. I am convinced that the visitors will be able to enjoy the event even more thanks to the organisational changes.”
The Basel Tattoo 2018 takes place from 18th to 28th July 2018. With the new show starting time at 9pm from Sundays to Thursdays, an audience request has been fulfilled. Particularly for visitors from abroad, this improvement makes the journey back home more relaxing. On Fridays and Saturdays, the show will still begin at 9.30pm. On the derniere Saturday, there will be an additional performance at 5.30pm. In addition, ticket prices for the categories 4 and 5 are lower next year.
Roche opens new IT innovation centre in Kaiseraugst
The pharmaceutical group Roche will move into its new IT innovation centre in Kaiseraugst this week. The expansion of the premises cost a total of one billion Swiss francs.
All computing divisions will be brought together in three new buildings, the group announced on Wednesday. As of the coming week, Roche’s IT employees are going to work in Kaiseraugst, which is 13 kilometres away from Basel.
Employees will no longer have any fixed workspaces. “With this decision, we can house more employees in one building,” Roche media spokesperson Karsten Kleine told the news agency, sda. For this reason, the location organisation division will move into a fourth building, which was originally built for IT operations as well.
A total of 290 million francs were invested to create the IT innovation centre. An additional 200 million francs were invested in the construction of a new production building, set to be completed in 2019. A reception building with visitor centres, gyms, and a coffee bar cost 85 million francs.
A training centre/school laboratory and additional investments on site cost another 386 million francs. All in all, there will be about 3,000 employees in Kaiseraugst – approximately twice the number of employees in the year 2000. The expansion is “another clear declaration of belief in Kaiseraugst as a location,” according to Jürg Erismann, head of location Basel/Kaiseraugst.
At the beginning of the month, Roche announced that part of the packaging division in Kaiseraugst is to be relocated elsewhere. A total of 235 jobs will be lost as part of this decision – most of them from 2019 onwards. According to Roche media spokesperson Karsten Kleine, there is no connection between these two developments.