Thing #4 that I love about Geneva - The City is Yours!

Back in 1992, one of the neighborhoods in Geneva called Pâquis started having an annual neighborhood street party call "La Rue est à Vous", i.e. The Street is Yours.

Basically a big weekend long block party where anyone can come out on the street and sell things they don't want anymore (very useful since we have no yards for the most part here in Geneva and so do not have yard sales), eat food, play music and just generally have a good time.

There is a limited infrastructure put in place by an organising committee, but otherwise the idea is that you go out on the street and get on with your funky self (or maybe just try to sell that funky coat you have had stashed in the back of your closet for 15 years).

The whole thing was so successful that the City of Geneva adopted the idea and now has started the annual "La Ville est à Vous", i.e. The City is Yours. Now each part of town has their own weekend long street party. Some are better than others, but generally a good time is had by all and it helps create a better sense of community. Plus, you see roads closed off to cars which is always lovely. Nothing like lots of feet taking back the tarmac :)