Züri-Fäscht: the great Zurich festival

After a small break from the online world, here I am again! A few days ago, we celebrated in Zurich the Züri-Fäscht. This is a summer festival that takes place in the city of Zurich every three years and the biggest festival in the whole of Switzerland. During three days, the city center is full of food stalls from all around the world, attractions and various ferry wheels, all kind of events, markets, open-air stages, bars, improvised discos with all kinds of music… Tight rope walkers cross the Limmat river while there are wakeboard acrobats in the water… And by the lake, people enjoy the air exhibitions of acrobatic planes, helicopters and sky divers… And when the night arrives, all lights around the lake go out just in time to enjoy the magnificent firework spectacle (it is one of the most beautiful firework shows I’ve ever seen!!). I loved Züri-Fäscht. When I arrived to Switzerland two years ago, a friend told me that this is one of the events I wouldn’t want to miss. And he was right! I had to wait two years to experience it, and it didn’t disappoint me. It was really nice to see how the whole city went out for the weekend to enjoy the festival. The usually calm and relaxing city center was transformed into a huge and noisy fair and everyone was having fun! No wonder why this festival attracts so many people every three years (this year a record number of 2.5 million people visited the festival!!). And for me, Züri-Fäscht was also a wonderful occasion to learn new things! Since I got my first DSLR I was looking forward to capturing fireworks. Some people would think that taking photos during a firework exhibition means missing it. They’re wrong! Even if it was something new for me, taking photos during the fireworks was really fun. The first night I knew most of the songs that were played during the show, and I had so much fun trying to guess when the fireworks were going to be launched by following the tune (it wasn’t that easy, as my SD card is a bit slow recording long exposure photos!). The second night was more difficult, as I didn’t know the German and Swiss songs that accompanied the show, but it was also a fun challenge! And I could also photograph the air show, capturing the PC-7 Team and the Super Puma, two of the air demonstration teams of the Swiss Air Force, as well as the show performed by the Patrulla ASPA, the helicopter acrobatic team of the Spanish Air Force. Here are some photos I took during Züri-Fäscht. There are a lot, so I divided them in 5 groups of photos, a group for each of the exhibitions I photographed. If you view the post from a mobile phone, you’ll see them better in landscape mode! 🙂 I hope you like them!
Swiss Air Force Super Puma display:
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 135mm f/5.6 1/1600sec. ISO160
Swiss Air Force PC-7 acrobatic team exhibition:
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 100mm f/9 1/160sec. ISO160
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 153mm f/9 1/320sec. ISO160
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 271mm f/9 1/200sec. ISO160
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 241mm f/9 1/320sec. ISO160
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 100mm f/5 1/2500sec. ISO200
Exhibition of the Spanish Air Force Patrulla ASPA of acrobatic helicopters:
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 100mm f/5.6 1/500sec. ISO160
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 100mm f/5.6 1/400sec. ISO160
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 100mm f/5.6 1/1000sec. ISO500
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 400mm f/5.6 1/500sec. ISO640
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 271mm f/5.6 1/250sec. ISO160
First Fireworks display “Sylver Eyes – Himne an den Mond”
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 26mm f/11 4.2sec. ISO200
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 35mm f/11 9sec. ISO200
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 24mm f/11 11sec. ISO200
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 24mm f/11 12sec. ISO200
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 24mm f/11 7.8sec. ISO200
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 24mm f/11 6.4sec. ISO200
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 24mm f/11 5.4sec. ISO200
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 24mm f/11 5.5sec. ISO200
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 28mm f/11 6.6sec. ISO200
Second firework display “Schlager Festival”
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 25mm f/11 8.8sec. ISO160
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 25mm f/11 7.3sec. ISO160
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 25mm f/11 5.8sec. ISO160
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 25mm f/11 1/8.3sec. ISO160
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 25mm f/11 6sec. ISO160
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 25mm f/11 6.3sec. ISO160
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 25mm f/11 8sec. ISO160
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 25mm f/11 3.5sec. ISO160
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 25mm f/11 16sec. ISO160
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 25mm f/11 7sec. ISO160
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 25mm f/11 8.2sec. ISO160
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 25mm f/11 7.7sec. ISO160

12 Comments

  1. Forestwood
    July 15, 2019 @ 10:54 am  ·  Reply

    Wow, Mercedes! Fantastic photography. Your timing looks great. That is no mean feat. I love the way the smoke is litl up as a backdrop. Excellent photos.

    • mercedescatalan
      July 15, 2019 @ 12:06 pm  ·  Reply

      Thanks a million, Amanda! So happy you like the post! It’s very different to the photos I usually post… but I’ve been waiting so long to capture fireworks… And the experience was really fun!
      Ah, the smoke… I though it would look bad on the photos, but it adds a lot to it, don’t you think? Specially in those from the second day. It was a bit windy (we had a strong summer storm a few hours before the show), so the smoke took this silky appearance behind the fireworks. Looks weird but I like the effect! 🙂

      • Forestwood
        July 16, 2019 @ 12:20 am  ·  Reply

        It looks really soft and pillow like, Mercedes. Definitely it is an excellent addition. I would say your fireworks photo are a great success.

        • mercedescatalan
          July 16, 2019 @ 1:14 pm  ·  Reply

          Thanks a mil again, Amanda! You’re so sweet!! I’m really happy with the photos. For being my first attempt, they look good enough! Hehehe. Now I’m looking forward to seeing more fireworks! Hopefully I won’t have to wait 3 years until the next Züri-Fäscht, hehehe

  2. Mariola
    July 15, 2019 @ 1:07 pm  ·  Reply

    Que preciosidad de fotografías , los fuegos artificiales don impresionantes, que maravilla de formas originales e incluso fantasmagóricas algunas. Otra vez magnificas eres muy buena fotografa. Besos 😘

    • mercedescatalan
      July 15, 2019 @ 2:55 pm  ·  Reply

      Mil gracias, Mariola!! Qué ilusión que te hayan gustado las fotos! Eso sí, son algo muy distinto a lo que suelo publicar, jejeje. Züri-Fäscht ha sido un festival sorprendente y divertido! Y un lugar genial para aprender a hacer nuevos tipos de fotografía! Los fuegos artificiales han sido un reto divertidísimo que espero poder repetir pronto! 🙂 Y ahora, a esperar 3 años al siguiente Züri-Fäscht!!

  3. Anne Sandler
    July 15, 2019 @ 5:18 pm  ·  Reply

    Great images! What fun you had Mercedes. I hope we’ll be seeing more of your festival pictures. I especially the Swiss Air Force acrobatic team shots. What size lens were you using to capture those?

    • mercedescatalan
      July 15, 2019 @ 6:01 pm  ·  Reply

      Thanks a mil, Anne!! Yes, the whole festival was super fun! So many things to see and to do!! I loved to watch the Swiss people being so festive, as they are usually very calm and discrete… hehehe. But I didn’t take photos of everything! Just photos of the aerial exhibitions and the fireworks… And it was my first time photographing fireworks! I loved it!
      For the aerial exhibitions I used the 100-400mm. Such a beast of a lens! I’m in love with it!! I’m still zooming every photo I take with it and get amazed by the awesome sharpness of this lens… hehehe

  4. arv!
    July 24, 2019 @ 3:57 pm  ·  Reply

    That’s a beautiful set of pictures. Loved them all!

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