Low water sends Expovina fair partly ashore for first time

Zurich’s Expovina wine fair will use a 1,000-square-metre tent alongside its exhibition ships for the first time in its more than 70-year history, SRF reported. Low water on Lake Zurich has left the event without four large vessels.

The Zurichsee Schifffahrtsgesellschaft, the lake’s shipping company, told organisers three weeks ago that it could not provide the ships. The fair normally takes place on seven large vessels. Without replacements, about 60 exhibitors, more than a third of the total, would have had no space, Expovina CEO Pascal Schlittler said.

Organisers worked with the city of Zurich to find a land-based location at Schanzengraben, near the Baur au Lac hotel and the Congress Centre and within walking distance of the exhibition ships. The tent, called the Seepavillon, has a fully transparent side with a view of the lake, Schlittler said.

The 71st edition will run in the tent and on six ships, some of them smaller, including the electric MS Uetliberg. The shipping company is using its large vessels for lake cruises, which are still operating despite the low water. Smaller ships cannot be used for the cruises because their boarding points are too low for safe access at the current water level.

Lake Zurich’s level remains almost 70 centimetres below its long-term average. The fair opens on October 29 and runs until November 12.