FALL & WINE FAIRS • HAT EXHIBIT • STARTING A BUSINESS • BALOISE SESSION • COOLIO Volume 7 Issue 2 CHF 6 6 A Monthly Guide to Living in Basel October 2018 2 Basel Life Magazine / www.basellife.com LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Dear Readers, Following an unusually hot and dry summer, autumn has finally arrived in Basel, bringing with it crisp air, shorter days, and the unmistakable sounds of screaming ride-goers braving the rollercoasters and other rides set up in October 2018 Volume 7 Issue 2 the various squares around town for the annual fall fair (Basler Herbst- messe). Another annual favorite is the amazing wine fair (Weinmesse) where TABLE OF CONTENTS you can taste from more than 4,000 wines over a period of 9 days! If spirits are more your taste, be sure to visit the Swiss Craft Spirits Festival, where Events in Basel: October 2018 4–11 you can find high-quality handmade Swiss spirits. In addition to tastings, the Entertainment section is packed with ideas for a great night out, such as shows to attend like English comedy, the Chippendales, operas, and adult Fun Outings: Beyond Basel 12–13 puppet theater; dance events, including dance parties, ballet, dance theater, and Georgian dancers; and an amazing selection of music concerts from classical, blues, jazz, singer-songwriter, Irish Folk, and modern-day African Markets and Fairs 14–16 music to rap artists like Coolio & Band and the SEAT Music Session with a 360° stage! Finally, the Baloise Session starts later this month, which invites you to watch your favorite artists like John Legend, Sunrise Avenue, George Did you know...? 17 Ezra, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Jimmy Cliff, and Buddy Guy perform up close in an intimate candlelight setting. For more family-oriented fun this autumn, you can join in the delightful Calendar: October 2018 18–19 Swiss tradition of conker collecting, treat the kids to one of the many chil- dren’s theaters or circuses in Basel, or take the whole family to Zürich to catch Cirque du Soleil’s phenomenal show “TOTEM” or Disney on Ice’s “The Sports and Recreation 20–21 Magical Ice Festival.” Take a glimpse into Switzerland’s past by visiting one of the numerous castles on Swiss Castle Day, or experience Halloween in style this year at Europa-Park, where ample decorations, shows, parades, Information Desk: Starting Your Own Business 22–23 musicals, special attractions, and parties are sure to spook even the bravest visitors! Workshops, Tours, and Education 24–25 There is also an abundance of flea markets and fairs specializing in every- thing from kids’ items and toys, winter sports equipment, reptiles, vinyl re- cords, weddings and parties to Halloween items or high-end women’s cloth- Entertainment: Night on the Town 27–35 ing, as well as the fantastic annual Rudolf-Steiner-Schule flea market and the fabulous 4-day WBZ flea market that benefits people with physical dis- abilities. Basel’s Job and Continuing Education Fair is a great opportunity for Mark Your Calendar: November 2018 35 teenagers and young adults to discover career paths and local options for continuing education. If you have been thinking about starting your own business, be sure to check out our Information Desk for great information Ticket Office: Get Your Tickets Now! back page and tips that will help get you on a successful path. Turn to the “Did You Know?” section to find out about the new courses for English speakers now offered at the Volkshochschule beider Basel, as well as to learn how to pro- tect yourself against clothes moths. This month’s sport section focuses on the region’s skating rinks and the various sports options they offer, from skating and figure skating to curling and hockey, and tennis lovers shouldn’t miss the action as the world’s best players compete at the Swiss Indoors in Basel. And finally, remember to set your clocks back on October 28 for the end of Daylight Savings Time! Wishing you fabulous fall fun, Christine Basel Life Magazine Staff: Editor-in-Chief: Christine Pesold Advertising & Subscription Manager / Editor: Susanne Hiller Design & Print: Die Medienmacher AG, Muttenz For more information about subscribing or advertising – please contact us: info basellife.com www.facebook.com/basellifemagazine www.basellife.com BASEL LIFE MAGAZINE / BASEL FAMILY GmbH © Copyright 2018. All rights reserved. It is our goal to provide valuable, timely information to our readers. The opinions expressed in the articles in this magazine are those of the contributing authors and do not reflect those of other members of the editorial staff and of any organizations or agencies distributing this magazine. Though we make every attempt to provide accurate information, we cannot be held respon- sible if any event is cancelled, postponed, or modified. We encourage readers to contact the event organizers or their websites to obtain the most current event information. Please note: No part of this periodical may be duplicated in any fashion, or redistributed in any written language, without permission from the executive staff at Basel Family GmbH. If you have any questions, contact Basel Family GmbH staff at: info basellife.com. photo credit: © dietrich varaklis (cover); © stephen oliver (page 3) October 2018 3 Events in Basel: October 2018 new life into the millinery business. The new special exhibition at the Spielzeug Welten Museum in Barfüsserplatz will take visitors on a short journey through the history of the hat while also displaying hats from famous modern-day hat designers and artists. Over 100 historical women’s, children’s, and men’s hats that represent the fashion trends of the past 200 years will be on display. The extraordinary and extrava- gant creations of the 21st century are represented by select artists, including John Boyd, who worked for Princess Diana, and Stephen Jones, the favorite designer of Rihanna, Katy Perry, and Mick Jagger. Their hats are exhibited in prestigious museums all over the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Louvre in Paris. The exhibit will be accompanied by workshops for children as well as a creative hat competition. Most Creative Hat Competition: Those interested in participating in the competition will receive the necessary hat decorations free of charge from the Spielzeug Welten Museum Basel’s online shop, starting Octo- ber 20. It’s up to participants to decide which means and accessories will be used to produce a unique creation, but the hat must be deco- rated such that it can hold the weight of the decorations and a person can still wear it normally. Submissions for the competition will be ac- cepted until December 16, and the decorated hats will be displayed in the museum’s window from January 26 to March 24. The public will have the opportunity to judge the hats until February 17, either online or with cards that can be obtained from the museum, and the two hats that receive the highest points in their categories will win fabulous prizes; find more information online or at the museum. www.spielzeug-welten-museum-basel.ch Hats Off to Hats October 20 – April 7 If an outfit’s accessories are the icing on the cake, then the hat is like the cherry on top. In the fashion world, the hat is an extravagant acces- sory consciously worn by men and women alike for the purpose of standing out from the crowd. Of course, hats have also been worn to protect against cold, rain, heat, or wind. They were also used as mani- festations of certain political stances or indicators of power and affili- ation. Therefore, a hat is more than just a head covering—it is a mes- sage. Throughout history, great significance has been assigned to who uncovered his head in front of whom, thus exposing them as vulnerable and powerless. Taking off your hat when greeting someone was origi- nally a sign of respect only afforded to people of higher social standing by those lower in the social order. Members of certain professional groups wore specific hats associated with their professions. Examples of this included top hats and bowler hats as well as caps and helmets. For women, head coverings had a different function. They indicated, for example, whether a woman was married or single—married women wore bonnets. Women were also expected to keep their hair covered, and the wide variety of women’s hats is a result of changing fashions. For example, the small hats that in 1860/70 were perched atop increas- ingly larger piles of hair made up of curls and plaits gave way to true monster hats at the beginning of the 20th century. The hat is currently experiencing a small renaissance. An ever-in- creasing number of fashion designers are expanding their collections with hat creations, and artists from around the world are breathing Transform es. This not only places additional burdens on the environment and the Until November 4 economy, but also causes a serious loss of identity in evolved spatial Over millennia, architecture has embodied the notion of a permanent- structures. Today, in critical engagement with this spatial throw-away ly changing continuity. Most historical buildings no longer exist in their culture, an ever-increasing number of architects are investigating build- original form today because they have been relentlessly transformed ings’ potential for transformation and, in their spatial and functional over time. In this way, they have been able to outlast epochs and to fulfill reinterpretations, discovering very distinct poetic potential and scope a succession of functions for which they were not originally planned. for experimentation. An exhibition on this topic entitled “Transform” Today, in contrast, the half-life of architecture is decreasing rapidly.