Spielzeug Welten Museum’s Food, Fun and Fast Rides Lace Up as the Temperature Baloise Session ‘Got Sole’ with their at the Famous Basel Drops! Ice Skating Starts Brings the Best of Focus on Footwear Herbstmesse! in October the Best to Basel Volume 3 Issue 2 CHF 5/€4 A Monthly Guide to Living in Basel October 2014 Good Gourd! With Fall Festivals, Autumn-Themed Markets, and Halloween Events, it’s Easy to “Fall for Fall” in Basel LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Dear Readers, Glorious fall days are upon us, bringing with them an incredible bounty of fairs—from the amazing two-week Herbstmesse (fall fair) filled with rides, October 2014 Volume 3 Issue 2 foods, stands, over 500 years of tradition, and fun for the whole family to the fabulous Basel wine fair, the delectable gourmet fair, and the Warenmesse TABLE OF CONTENTS (goods fair). Want more ideas for autumn fun? Read our fall special and learn about Events in Basel: October 2014 4-6 autumn festivals; pumpkin and squash festivals; Halloween events, activities, and parties; roasting chestnuts; and some truly horrifying excitement for the adventurous minded. You can also partake in the lovely Basel tradition of the Feature Event: Baloise Session 7conker collection day at Lange Erlen, enjoy the season’s bounty in the Black Forest, or take the family fossil hunting in the Jurassic region of Switzerland. There are also flea markets galore, including the annual “must”—the Rudolf Fun Outings: Beyond Basel 8Steiner Schule flea market. The month of October also brings with it numerous great new museum exhibits focusing on everything from a realist painter and a Finnish architect Markets and Fairs 9-11 to the history of shoes, Switzerland and the Great War, and the secret world of parasites. Delve into the cultural and creative activities of Tokyo through the exhibitions and presentations at CULTURESCAPES. Inside Basel: Falling for Fall in Basel 12-13 With the opening of the local ice rinks, you can once again enjoy skating and ice hockey, even in the warm autumn sun. Don’t miss the excitement as the world’s best tennis players compete for the title at the Swiss Indoors; watch Calendar: October 2014 14-15 a car rally in France; or take in a heavyweight-championship boxing match, the first in over 100 years of Swiss boxing history. Sports and Recreation 16-17 As always, there are plenty of entertainment events for you to enjoy, includ- ing concerts, circuses, theater, wine tastings, comedy, and dance, and be sure to experience an intimate concert with one of the international music Workshops, Tours, and Education 18-21 stars at the Baloise Session. In this issue you will also find useful information about the expat subscrip- tion at Theater Basel, why the crosswalks are disappearing in some Basel Did You Know? 22-23 neighborhoods, how to buy your train tickets online, and much more. And finally, don’t forget to make your clocks “fall back” for the end of Daylight Entertainment: Night on the Town 24-26 Savings Time on October 26! Wishing you fantastic fall fun, Ticket Office: Get Your Tickets Now! 27 Christine Christine Pesold Mark Your Calendar: November 2014 Back Page Editor-in-Chief [email protected] Basel Family Magazine Staff: COVER: The pumpkin on this month’s cover of Basel Life Magazine shows the Baselstab (Basel staff), the symbol on Basel’s coat of arms. It repre- Editor-in-Chief: sents the crook, or crosier, of the bishops of Basel, with the three points Christine Pesold at the bottom supposedly representing the metal cover at the bottom of Advertising & Subscription Manager / Editor: a regular bishop’s crook. It has been used as a symbol for the city since Susanne Hiller the 14th century. Interestingly, no bishop has resided in Basel since the reformation in 1528, and Solothurn is now the seat of the diocese and the Art Director: Bishop of Basel. Jon Hoefer Initially, there was no specific rule as to whether the top of the staff should point to the right or to the left, and when you look closely at the façade of For more information about subscribing or advertising – please contact us: the Rathaus, you will still see both variations. Only since the separation [email protected] of the cantons of Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft in 1832/1833 has the www.basellife.com Baselstab in the city been drawn in black and pointing to the left, whereas cover photo: © jon hoefer /© mali serena aurora (artist: f. diawara) in Baselland it is red and points to the right. BASEL LIFE MAGAZINE / BASEL FAMILY GmbH © Copyright 2014 . 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 responsi- ble 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: [email protected]. 2 basel life magazine / www.basellife.com OCTOBER 2014 3 Events in Basel: October 2014 the dynamic urban coexistence in one of the most multicultural coun- 078-610-9694; entrance is free but donations are welcome. For the History under your Feet tries in the world. CULTURESCAPES Tokyo 2014 will show some of Sunday presentation on October 12 you can also reserve space for a October 18 – April 6 the roots of Japanese culture, such as bunraku (the traditional pup- brunch from 9:00-10:30 preceding the show; cost for this is CHF 20 for pet theater), ikebana (the art of traditional flower arrangements), tea adults and CHF 10 for kids ages 6-15. This is not an exhibit on archeology, as you may think, but one about the 3,000-year history of shoes—an everyday object that for ceremonies, and Noh theater. The focus of the festival, however, will www.robiano.ch millennia has served to protect the soles of men, women, and children. In collaboration with the Northampton Museums and Art Gallery in be on the work of contemporary artists. The exhibitions and presen- England, home to the world’s largest collection of historical shoes, the Spielzeug Welten Museum Basel will be exhibiting over 220 pairs tations will take place in many locations; visit their website for the of shoes, taking you on a journey through the footwear fashions of the comprehensive schedule. “Keschtenedaag” at Lange Erlen Park last 3,000 years. In addition to their purely protective function and their October 8 importance for many people as a fashion item, throughout history shoes www.culturescapes.ch have also been connected with social status and membership of particular Do your children love to pick up conkers (horse social groups. In ancient Egypt, only pharaohs were allowed to wear san- Children’s Theater—Cinderella dals made of silver or gold. The oldest shoe in the exhibition comes from chestnuts, “Kastan- Egypt, and dates from around 1,000 B.C. Every shoe form that we wear October 1, 22, 25, 26, and 29 ien”)? While they are regret- today has a link to the past, so we are always wearing a piece of history The Basler Kinder Theater is presenting the Brothers Grimm’s tably unedible to humans, they are on our feet. More recently, shoes have also become a subject for the art classic fairytale “Aschenputtel” (Cinderella). This version will be pre- great protein- and fat-rich feed for world. More than 30 artists from across the globe have made their artistic sented in Basel dialect and is suitable for kids ages 4 and up. Tickets the deer and wild boar in winter. On shoe creations available for the exhibition. Shoes from the designers of to- are CHF 15 for kids, CHF 20 for adults, or CHF 8 for kids and CHF 9 October 8, the Lange Erlen Park morrow also offer visitors a taste of the future. Additionally, Thomas Mur- for adults with the Familienpass. will conduct its 10th annual conker collection. From 10:00-12:00 and © lange erlen park photo: phy, an English shoemaker of bespoke shoes for children and adults, will www.baslerkindertheater.ch demonstrate his craft on various weekends. Visitors will have the chance 14:00-16:00, kids can bring in their bags and boxes of conkers for CHF 0.20 per kilogram. They will also receive a butter roll and a glass of to experience live how handmade shoes are made today and will have the levi / kobe spielzeug-welten-museum-basel opportunity to try their hand at a bit of shoemaking themselves. Family Concert apple cider for their hard work, and there is a prize for the three chil- October 4 dren who bring in the most conkers (there is a 200-kg limit per child!). www.spielzeug-welten-museum-basel.ch © photo: Note that while this is a one-day event only, you are always most As part of the mini.musik series, the Sinfonieorchester Basel presents welcome to drop off conkers into the box at the entrance of the “Auf der Baustelle” (At the construction site). With warning jackets Autumn 2014 is “Courbet Season” in Switzerland 14/18 – Switzerland and the Great War animal park.