The New Messehalle Summer Be a Night Owl at the Get Fit in Basel’s Unveiled Camps! Basel Zoo Parks Volume 1 Issue 8 MAGAZINE A Family Guide to Discovering Basel for the Expat Community JUNE 2013 Basel Takes Art Seriously L I F E TRAVEL EVENTS DINING LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Dear Readers, MAGAZINE If you are a fan of the arts, Basel is the place to be in June! JUNE 2013 Volume 1 • Issue 8 The world famous Art Basel will be taking over the mid- dle of this month, with a host of exhibitions, indoor and TABLE OF CONTENTS outdoor art events, and a multitude of related art fairs. This month is also rich with activities that serve the Feature Story: The New Messehalle 3expat community of Basel. For example, you won’t want to miss the annual Expat Expo on June 2, where about 100 exhibitors catering to the expat community—including your Special Event: Art Basel 4-5 Basel Family Magazine team—will introduce their products and services that are available to you, in English, in the Basel area. You also may be interested in a large sale of June Events in Basel 6-8 second-hand English-language books and other media. And finally, if you are fairly new to Basel, be sure to join the “Basel for Newcomers Tour” on June 1. Fun Family Outings Beyond Basel 9 And as usual, the impressive lineup of concerts by inter- national artists, English theater, tours, workshops, and Special Feature: Summer Camps! 10-13 entertainment in the Basel area will offer something for everyone. Want to escape the contemporary? Simply cross the German border and spend a weekend in medieval Center Calendar: June 2013 14-15 times at the amazing Spectaculum® festival. Prefer a day in nature? The French canton of Vaud is inviting you to guid- ed exploration of their mountains. Looking for wetter Did You Know? 16 excitement? Try crossing the French border into Huningue to experience white water rafting. The Ticket Office 17 Finally, in this issue you will find a long list of the summer camps available to your children during the school holidays. But spaces go quickly, so sign up now! Sports and Recreation 18-20 As always, we love to receive your feedback so please visit our website and pop us a quick e-mail or visit us at the Expat Expo at booth no. 46. Workshops, Tours, and Education in Basel 22-23 Wishing you a warm and artful month! Entertainment: Parents’ Night Out 24-26 Christine Wine Notes: The Perfect Pairing for Your Next BBQ 26-27 Christine Pesold Editor-in-Chief [email protected] Mark Your Calendar: July / August 2013 Back Page Good news – Basel Family Magazine is Going Subscription! Basel Family Magazine Contacts Frustrated because somebody just snatched up the last copy of Basel Family Magazine? By popular Editor-in-Chief: demand, we will be offering our magazine by subscription, starting with the September 2013 issue! For only Christine Pesold CHF 50 per year (plus S&H), you will reliably find your copy ofBasel Family Magazine in your mailbox by the Advertising Manager / first of the month, 10 times a year. Editor: We have provided two easy ways for you to order your annual subscription: Susanne Hiller 1. Simply go to our website (www.baselfamilymagazine.com) and click on “Subscriptions” Art Director: and fill in the online form OR Jon Hoefer 2. Fill out the form on the back page of this month’s issue and mail it to us! Subscribe now to make sure you don’t miss a single issue! Alternatively, for the low price of a 5-franc coin, For more information: Basel Family Magazine will be made available for purchase at Bider & Tanner (located at Bankverein). [email protected] Visit our booth at the Expat Expo for a 10% discount off an annual subscription, and when you do, you’ll www.baselfamilymagazine.com automatically be entered into a drawing for a free 1-year subscription! We look forward to another exciting year together. If you have questions, please free to contact us at: [email protected]. front cover photo credit: © art basel 2012 BASEL FAMILY MAGAZINE © Copyright 2013. All rights reserved. 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 Magazine. It is our goal to provide valuable, timely information to the expat community of Basel. 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 responsible 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. If you have any questions, please contact Basel Family Magazine staff at: [email protected] 2 BASEL FAMILY MAGAZINE FEATURE STORY by Susanne Hiller Getting to Know You — the upper two levels, whereas the ground floor is encased in glass. Moreover, the façade does not form a flat surface but The New Messehalle is shaped in irregular waves. Inside the building, the ground floor holds some publicly accessible restaurants and shops as If you’ve been in Kleinbasel in well as exhibition halls, and the upper two floors, which are recent months, particularly around not aligned with each other but are slightly displaced, are also Claraplatz, you’ll likely have dedicated to exhibition space. With their heights of 10 m for noticed the striking new building the ground floor and 8 m for the upper levels, the building at Messeplatz (exhibition square), allows for exhibits that are two or three stories tall. which now dominates the view from Claraplatz or the German The Construction train station along Clarastrasse. It’s the latest addition to Basel’s Messehallen (exhibition halls), called Halle 1, and while it was The entire development process for the new building, from already officially opened in April, in time for the BASELWORLD the first designs to the completion of the building, took about 9 years and included referendums in 2008 in both Basel Stadt watch and jewelry fair, now is your chance to visit and explore this and Baselland to approve the design plans and the financing. new architectural landmark. Once all the necessary approvals had been granted, the actual building began with some preliminary works in June of 2010. Open House Event The biggest challenge in implementing the plans was that all On June 29 from 10:00-18:00, they will be hosting an Open the work had to be done in an area that was already used House that will allow the public to visit the new building and heavily throughout the year for various fairs and festivals, in- enjoy a variety of attractions for the whole family. You will be cluding the highly prestigious BASELWORLD and Art Basel, as able to take a tour of the entire building complex and take a look well as the Herbstmesse (fall fair) and MUBA. Therefore, the back at the 22-month building phase. And if you don’t want to construction schedule had to be adjusted so that these major wander the halls, you can ride through the huge hall on Segways events could still go on. or rickshaws! There will also be information booths by the Basel After the preparation phase from June to October 2010, the police department and Securitas security service, and for kids, first major construction phase lasted from June to December and those who feel young enough, Robi-Spiel-Aktionen and 2011, during which the new building spanning the Messe- play4you will set up a play area. Five local bands will play platz was erected. Then, construction was halted until April on a stage in the main event hall, and there will of course 2012 following the BASELWORLD. During the final construc- be plenty of food and drink on offer. For more informa- tion phase, the existing old buildings on both sides of the tion, check www.messe.ch/openday. Because there is limited Messeplatz were dismantled, new structures put up in their parking in the area, please use public transport to get there stead, and the interior work completed. These works were – trams 2, 6, and 14 will take you directly to the Messeplatz finished on schedule in February 2013. (exhibition square) stop. To be able to meet such a demanding schedule, about 200 different contractors had to be coordinated, and at times more The Design than 1,000 workers simultaneously were working on site. The The new hall was constructed to expand the available tight schedule also necessitated extremely long work days; at exhibition space and allow fair organizers to hold all events in certain stages in the construction, exterior work was conduct- one location rather than relying on outlying buildings, such ed Monday through Saturday from 6:00-24:00, and interior as those beyond the Musical Theater. To this end, the Basel- construction went on around the clock. These work hours based, internationally acclaimed architectural firm of Herzog posed a significant hardship to the people living in the area, & de Meuron (which is also responsible for such well-known as did the on average 150 trucks that came and went to buildings as the Olympic Stadium in Beijing, the de Young the construction site each day. And the cost for this Museum in San Francisco, the Tate Modern in London, new highlight in Basel’s architectural landscape? and Basel’s St.