Wakeboarding and windsurfing in Nyon, plus two festivals that start this week.

Who needs the sea when you have Lac Léman?

Not only was there a windsurfer on the lake today in Nyon, but a wakeboarder too, both taking advantage of the strong breezes and glorious sun after the torrential downpours of yesterday.

Folk queuing for the ferry got a fabulous view of these watersports enthusiasts weaving in and out between the jetty and the boats, then whizzing by on the waves with the backdrop of the town behind them.

Let's hope the weather stays fine for the Jval Rock Festival. It starts this Thursday 14th August and goes on until the 16th. I have it on good authority that there are fabulous views to be had up from the venue which is on a private vineyard in Serreaux-Dessus just above Begnins.

The festival's philosophy is to promote Swiss and French Music and this year there is a three day programme from Rock to Electro Pop to Jazz. One of the bands Mobile in Motion originates from Nyon so it's a good chance to hear local music. The festival started four years ago when two brothers (who live on the wine estate), invited their friends and a few bands to come and play. Such was its success they repeated it the following year. Now in its fourth year, the festival has its own website and has navettes organised from Gland to take music lovers up to the venue. Check out the programme for the full listing of bands. I have never been before but plan to this year as it looks great. Photo below from last year's festival (courtesy of Jval)

As there are just 400 tickets available for each night the festival will never become too big as space is limited by the area. Gaeten Fragnière who is part of the Javal team says; "The size means we will never lose our soul and we can keep it intimate". The age range of festival goers starts at around 18 -60, a healthy mix indeed. Why "Jval?" Well if you say it out loud it sounds like "horse" (cheval in French), a name that the organisers thought would be easy to remember! Also You may have seen signs around town advertising a festival called F.A.R . This means "Festival des arts vivants" (festival of living arts). The festival gets under way today the 13th until the 23rd August with a full programme of artists who will perform theatre, music comedy, dance. in venues around the town. The Usine a Gaz is decorated up to welcome them. More on this festival in a next post.