Swiss ‘Naval Parade’ cancelled due to lack of boats

The CGN Naval Parade will not take place in May 2025 Keystone-SDA

A traditional Swiss 'Naval Parade' of historic paddle-boats has been cancelled due to a lack of lake-worthy vessels.

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The annual event, organised by the Compagnie générale de navigation sur le Lac Léman (Lake Geneva General Navigation Company) CGN, cannot take place in May 2025.

CGN blames the unavailability of several vessels due to maintenance work. The event could take place at a later date, or in a different form, in the autumn.

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“We currently have too many Belle Epoque boats tied up for maintenance work. So it’s hard to imagine a parade with just three historic boats,” Caroline Dayen, CGN head of marketing and sales, told Keystone-ATS on Thursday.

“But we are still looking into the possibility of organising an identical naval parade later in the year, or at least a special event to close the season, in September or October,” she added. In the meantime, CGN will be holding its open house on 12 and 13 April.

CGN’s historic Belle Epoque fleet comprises eight paddlewheel steamers, five of which are steam-powered and three of which are diesel-electric: the Montreux (1904), La Suisse (1910), Savoie (1914), Simplon (1915-20), Rhône (1927), Vevey (1907), Italie (1908) and Helvétie (1926).

Water ballet

The latter has not sailed since 2002, when its propulsion system was declared unserviceable. It is currently undergoing a renovation study in preparation for its centenary in 2026.

The Simplon was badly damaged in a storm at the end of March 2024, and is currently being prepared for full restoration. Other boats are also being repaired or renovated.

Launched in 1995, the Naval Parade consists of an aquatic choreography that generally lasts 45 minutes, then the show continues on the quayside with a second tableau of the aquatic ballet. In all, the parade often lasts an hour and a half. It ends with a concert of whistle blasts from the boats in the parade.

Last year, the quays of Vevey and La Tour-de-Peilz hosted the event, attracting 10,000 people. Some 1,500 passengers boarded the five Belle Epoque boats that sailed on Lake Geneva. The last three parades with seven boats took place in 2023, 2022 and 2017.

In 2018, the Naval Parade was held for the first time in France, in Evian, also welcoming more than 10,000 people.

Translated from French with DeepL/mga

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