CONCERTS ON THE RHEIN • INDULGENCE WEEKS • MOBILITY WEEK • TUTANKHAMUN • ORGAN FESTIVAL Volume 9 Issue 1 CHF 6 6 A Monthly Guide to Living in Basel September 2020 Ecole Française De Bâle Daycare & Kindergarten Elementary school Dornacherstrasse 92 Engelgasse 103 [email protected] [email protected] 061 271 75 72 061 311 07 30 Upcoming events: • Open Evenings on March 19th, April 30th, May 28th, June 25th and August 27th Founded in 1884, EFDB offers : • an educational institution approved by the French National Ministry of Education (MEN), the Agency for French Education Abroad (AEFE), and under control of the Canton of Basel Stadt (BS), • an excellent opportunity for your child to learn French, German and English, • a welcoming, international atmosphere embracing native as well as non- native speakers, • a full time nursery “La petite Bulle” for infants from 3 to 24 months, • a kindergarten and a primary section from age 2 to 11, • a 6th grade, opening in September 2020, • childcare from 7:45 to 6:30 pm, including a canteen, • many extracurricular activities including violin, piano, yoga, swimming, theatre, circus, cooking classes in English and German as well as French, • language courses in English, German and French for adults and children (preparation for the Cambridge English exams, for the Goethe Institut exams and for the DELF exams) – For externals too EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE AND PERSONAL CONFIDENCE FOR ALL CHILDREN We are looking forward to welcoming you! Please email or call us to visit – www.efdb.ch 2 Basel Life Magazine / www.basellife.com LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Dear Readers, Whether you are long-time readers or new arrivals just out of quarantine, I hope that this issue of Basel Life Magazine meets you with a renewed energy and a cautious hope for September 2020 Volume 9 Issue 1 the months to come! TABLE OF CONTENTS When putting together this September 2020 issue, it struck me how different it is from the preceding September issues. But don’t despair! While many of the larger originally scheduled events have been cancelled this year, some events from the spring and sum- Events in Basel: September 2020 4–10 mer have been pushed to this month, allowing us to enjoy a multitude of late-summer concerts on a floating stage on the Rhein (Im Fluss); some terrific concerts postponed from this spring’s Jazzfestival Basel; as well as the newly conceived Kunsttage (Art Fun Outings: Beyond Basel 12–13 Days), which have been designed to substitute for this year’s cancelled edition of Art Basel and are filled with art events in 44 locations around town. Numerous new museum exhibits also await your visit, focusing on topics like the rapidly Markets and Fairs 14–15 changing relationship between technology and emotions (Real Feelings), a futuristic outlook at Basel in the year 2050, the works of prominent women artists at the Fondation Beyeler (Close Up), and the lost treasures of King Tut, just to name a few. You can also Sports and Recreation 16-17 read about tips and offers that will help make your museum visits more affordable. September is always a time to admire the region’s diverse architecture at the European Calendar: September 2020 18–19 Days of Monuments, as well as to enjoy experimental performances of all kinds at the Theaterfestival Basel. Seasonal activities also abound this month with a kite festival, squash market, rose market, vegan fair, and weeks of events celebrating food and the Workshops, Tours, and Education 20–21 season’s bounty at the Basel and Baselland indulgence weeks (Genusswochen). If you are looking for an escape to the great outdoors, you can sign up for a guided nature walk in Vaud; explore the rolling hills of the Jura in a horse-drawn wagon; or gawk at the white rhinos, reticulated giraffes, zebras, and impalas of the Lewa Savana—the newest grand Information Desk: Living with the Reality of the Virus 22–24 exhibit at the Zürich Zoo. Although the coronavirus pandemic currently dominates our lives, another important Inside Basel: Visit Switzerland's Museums for Less 25 issue—the environment—also requires our attention, and several events this month do just that. You can get involved in the Switzerland-wide Clean Up Days, discover environ- ment-friendly ways to get around during Mobility Week, and take in a film or two at the Entertainment: Night on the Town 26–34 Films for the Earth Festival. And despite the continuing ban on large events, there is still plenty of entertainment to appeal to everyone’s taste, from circus, family theater, and a motorcycle show to concerts, wine and rum tastings, dance parties, live-band karaoke, Ticket Office: Get Your Tickets Now! 35 burlesque entertainment, and painting sessions for adults over drinks. Last but not least, for fabulous information on how to optimize your wellbeing during these uncertain times, be sure to read our Information Desk with practical and sensible advice on how to improve your physical, mental, and emotional health. Please remember that the situation is still unstable and can change very rapidly if we don’t all do our part to try to minimize the spread of the coronavirus. So continue to frequently wash hands and keep as much distance from others as possible. Also, before you head out to any of the events listed here, be sure to check with the event organiz- ers or venues to verify that their offerings have not changed since the publication of this issue and what protection measures and procedures (eg, obligatory face masks) you need to follow! Wishing you a safe and healthy September, Christine Pesold Basel Life Magazine Staff: Editor-in-Chief: Cover: Basel-Stadt’s gardeners take care of around Christine Pesold 26,700 trees (plus of course many other plants, like the rose bushes with their decorative rose hips shown Advertising & Subscription Manager / Editor: on the cover). All of the trees are listed in the city’s Susanne Hiller “Baumkataster” (tree inventory), which you can find online at www.stadtgaertnerei.bs.ch/stadtgruen/ Design & Print: stadtbaeume/gesamtuebersicht-baeume.html. PRINTHOUSE by jobfactory, Basel There, a map shows every single tree for which the gardeners are responsible, with detailed information For more information about subscribing or advertising – please contact us: on what type of tree it is, how old it is, when it was planted, and more! You can click on each tree to find [email protected] the information. For example, the map shows that the www.facebook.com/basellifemagazine trees right by the Münster on the cover are horse www.basellife.com chestnuts, some of which are 150 years old and have been growing there for more than 140 years. BASEL LIFE MAGAZINE / BASEL FAMILY GmbH © Copyright 2020. 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: [email protected]. photo credits: © dietrich varaklis (cover, page 3) September 2020 3 EventsEvents in in Basel: Basel: FebruarySeptember February 20202015 2020 (continued) Im Fluss—Concerts on the Rhein September 1–18 This year marks the 21st anniversary of “Im Fluss,” a series of concerts played every night on a large stage floating on the Kleinbasel side of the Rhein near the Mittlere Brücke. Normally held in the summer, this year’s edition was postponed to September. “Culture for all” is the credo that has remained true since this concert series began in 2000. This year, they are bringing 17 free concerts to the floating stage for 3 late-summer weeks. With the hottest music, the coldest drinks, and the enchanting view of the Münster silhouette lit up across the river, this magical atmosphere attracts Baslers in droves to the Rhein’s edge. Concerts start at nightfall, around 20:30–21:00, and usually last until about 22:00. No tickets needed; simply find a place to sit and enjoy the atmosphere. Visit their website for a list of the bands. www.imfluss.ch Theaterfestival Basel Baselbieter Genusswochen Until September 6 (Baselland’s Indulgence Weeks) For 12 days this summer, Basel will once again be transformed into an in- September 1–30 ternational center of theater and dance, packed with new forms of theater, The Baselbieter Genusswochen are experimental performances, musical theater, Nouveau Cirque, discus- all about the enjoyment of food and sions, and much more. A variety of international productions will be staged eating and are designed to show- at Kaserne Basel, Theater Basel, Rosentalanlage, junges theater basel, case the richness of the flavors and ROXY Birsfelden, neuestheater.ch in Dornach, Theater Palazzo in Liestal, the variety of a pleasurable diet—a and Kulturhaus Alts Schlachthuus in Laufen. The central festival site will diet where the products, the person be at Kaserne Basel; so come by, linger, and soak up the atmosphere. who manufactures or processes Tickets are CHF 35–45 for adults, CHF 20–25 for students, and CHF 10 for them, and the area from which they kids up to age 14; theater lovers should consider the Pack of Six for 6 come all have meaning.