Last week on 4-5 September, the 2019 edition of the Stierenmarkt opened its doors in Zug to showcase the canton's most beautiful bulls and cows as well as a fair amount of local specialties.
For those who want to learn more about the Stierenmarkt, I had already written about it last year, and shared my "traumatic" experience in 2017 of witnessing my first pig race under a never-ending rain.
This year the odds were in our favour: not only the sun was present (it was even too hot), and after 2,5 years living in Zug I have learned to appreciate local folklore and traditions, including the pig race itself that we could not miss. We went to pay our regards to the petting zoo, grabbed an icecream and made our way to see the pigs in the center of the area.
As I always keep a critical eye on things, and despite falling for a fresh chocolate milkshake from the Swissmilk stand, I have listed a few things that I couldn't help but notice:
Between my first visit in 2017 and this year's event, clearly nothing has changed in terms of stand arrangements: things were in the EXACT same place as they were two years before, inside and outside the Stierenmarkt zone.
While the Schwingfest 2 weeks ago put sustainability on the forefront of its activities and communications, nothing here called for eco-friendly activities. What surprised me the most was the lack of reycling options, not even for PET bottles.
I was again (negatively) impressed by the amount of crap that was sold there and the prices asked for the same, for example a lot of made-in-China plastic toys of very poor quality which mostly looked like counterfeits rather than originals. Spending also 8 CHF for churros and even 9 CHF for apple fritters was to me also totally exagerated. 2 CHF for a freshly-made milkshake with local milk almost seemed like a reward.
Anyway, apart from these it was obviously a lovely day and event, and we look forward to checking it again next year. I will also keep an eye on the coming Zuger Messe, hoping that the coming super-event of the canton will also look into sustainability as a topic of choice.
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