77th Swiss Gymnastics Festival praised for ‘positive energy’

Gymnasts take part in the closing ceremony of the Swiss Gymnastics Festival in Lausanne on June 22, 2025. Keystone-SDA

The 77th Federal Gymnastics Festival drew to a close on Sunday in Lausanne, after eleven days of popular celebration and sporting performances. Over 65,000 gymnasts from across the country attended.

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Nearly 10,000 spectators watched the closing ceremony at the Tuilière stadium on Sunday. Gymnastics demonstrations were performed by over 800 gymnasts and 100 extras. And a total of 31 trophies were awarded to the festival’s winners.

The organisers said 65,000 gymnasts from all over Switzerland had attended the event, which takes place every six years, and had strengthened national cohesion.

No security problems

After weeks of “crazy intensity”, this event, “somewhat anachronistic in an individualistic society”, made it possible to “bring together a huge number of people without tension, without security problems, in the pleasure of living together”, said Cédric Bovey, chair of the organising committee.

Bovey noted that 59% of the participants were women. More than 5,300 judges took part in the event. Around 68,000 overnight stays were booked in the Lausanne region.

“We even had to expand the offer so that everyone could enjoy the festival,” he added.

Volunteering not in crisis

Around 4,500 volunteers also took part, putting in 60,000 hours of work. “For a one-shot deal, that’s phenomenal,” he said. “We can’t say volunteering is in crisis,” agreed Gaël Lasserre, director of the event.

To encourage sustainability, the festival had no official car park and relied on free public transport for gymnasts. And to avoid waste, there was also no official clothing.

Sunny weather over the entire ten days also added to the success.

Positive energy

Emilie Moeschler, the Lausanne municipal councillor in charge of sports, praised the “titanic effort that went off without a hitch. We wanted a great event. We can already say that it was a success, with a very positive energy in the streets”.

The festival also had “spin-offs for the local economy, which will be assessed later”, said Moeschler. She also reported “very positive feedback from the people of Lausanne”, many of whom were impressed by the German-speaking gymnasts.

As far as public transport is concerned, the city wants to be “an incubator for experiments in sustainability”. It has also presented its measures to international sports federations.

Swiss DNA

Organising the festival in the centre of the town was “an extraordinary laboratory in which gymnastics and the general public could co-exist”, said Christelle Luisier, president of the Vaud government, who is in charge of sport.

“Gymnastics is in Switzerland’s DNA. In the canton, 290 of the 300 communes have gymnasts; it’s part of life in society,” she commented. The festival also contributes to the city’s national and international reputation, she added.

Luisier highlighted the fact that the Vaud parliament had just adopted an “ambitious bill” that would increase investment in this area by a factor of eight, both in elite and popular sport.

All ages and horizons

Economics Minister Guy Parmelin, who was present in Lausanne on Sunday, praised the event for “bringing together people of all ages and backgrounds. Voluntary sport is the key to our unity. This federal festival has demonstrated this in the best possible way.”

On Saturday Swiss Sports Minister Martin Pfister took part in a procession in Lausanne that brought together nearly 4,000 festival participants.

Lausanne 2025 will now pass the torch to the Ticino organising committee, which will take charge of the 2031 event.

Translated from German with DeepL/sb

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