ZURICH: The sixth edition of the International Radio Festival – IRF -2015 kick started with a bang as reported by Radioandmusic.com earlier.

Backing the forum, Swiss Tourism is in full swing flying in guests from around the world to Zurich. Though the IRF commenced on 14 August with performances by Swiss radio, stars, shows and artists, live performances at the venue by international radio jockeys commenced on 26 August.

The festival kick-started with drinks and aperitifs on the evening of 26 August followed by a ‘vintage tram’ ride across the city of Zurich. Celebrities from the radio and music world networked during the one hour plus ride while the aperitifs, wine and juices were flowing freely. Zurich is one of the few major cities in the world that has a great public transport system and it is a lot more sensible to travel by tram than by one’s own set of wheels.

The team from India spent the morning at Zurich Old Town, which as per Swiss Tourism, has the highest concentration of clubs in Switzerland. It is also one of the most famous shopping miles and has a plethora of cultural offerings set against a medieval background. A guide from Zurich Tourism took us around and explained the rich history behind Zurich Old Town.

The culmination of the morning sojourn was in the afternoon with lunch at the Guinness Book of Records certified ‘oldest vegetarian hotel in the world’ - Hiltl. That this hotel serves vegetarian and vegan food right in the middle of a modern western European rich country came as a surprise. What was even more pleasant was that the food taste and quality was amongst the best vegetarian foods anywhere. The hotel was crowded and advance reservations are required if one wants to partake a meal there.

The current manager and owner Rolf Hiltl had an interesting tale to tell about his grandmother visiting Gujarat and learning to make Indian food – skill sets that she brought to Zurich and how vegetarian food’s popularity has grown since then – to the extent that Hiltl has branches in Zurich and is opening one on Saturday, 29 August.

Zurich Old Town is truly a cultural, social and historical melting pot.

(Radio guests from around the world have been flown in by Swiss Tourism and Swiss Air to the very beautiful city of Zurich.)

Log onto www.radioandmusicbiz.com for more.