Upcoming Kids' Events in Zurich

The PBZ Express is an exhibition at PBZ Affoltern. It needs no German, so it works for any family.

Circus Monti's new show, Poussière d'étoiles (Stardust), centers on an odd fortune teller who reads the stars with his crystal ball. His big ambitions knock everything off balance: acrobatics fail, routines fall apart and even the most baffling magic tricks go wrong.

The mishaps are the point, turned into laughter and wonder. It suits kids who like acrobatics, magic and comedy.

A church orchestra from Schwamendingen and the puppet theater Figurentheater Ariella Dainesi team up at the Affoltern library for a family concert built around the picture book «Adam und seine Tuba».

It is told in German, so it suits kids who can follow a story in German.

Selma Lagerlöf's classic, staged as musical family theater. After a prank turns his world upside down, Nils takes off on the back of the gander Martin and joins a flock of wild geese led by Akka of Kebnekaise.

It's performed in Swiss German (Mundart), so it suits kids who follow the dialect, along with the parents and grandparents who come with them.

Each fall, Richterswil on Lake Zurich carves about 30 metric tons of turnips into lanterns, and its old village center glows by candlelight. Brass bands play on the squares while families wander between market stalls.

The highlight is the evening parade, when local schools and clubs carry dozens of glowing turnip sculptures through the streets. It suits kids happy to stay out on a cold, dark evening.

Picandou, a mouse living quietly in a deli, takes in Gruyère, a rat who has lost its memory and thinks it's a mouse. With the drifter Ernie, they slide through canals and gutters, clash with a rat gang and land in the posh apartment of golden hamster Bertram von Backenbart.

Told with puppets in Swiss German and German, it suits kids who follow German well.

Two circus artists, a teeterboard and a stage of nonsense. GUGUS! is a dance piece inspired by Dada, the art movement that started here over a century ago. The performers fly through the air, dance, make music, invent sounds and turn into odd characters.

The name is Swiss German for both "hello" and "nonsense," and the show is pure play that doesn't need to make sense. Good for slapstick fans.

A stage musical of the Swiss picture-book classic by Selina Chönz and Alois Carigiet. For Chalandamarz, every child in Ursli's Engadin village rings a bell to chase off winter, and Ursli gets the smallest one. With Mür the mouse, he braves a snowstorm to the family's mountain hut to fetch the big bell.

Staged by Paul Weilenmann of Karl's kühne Gassenschau, it's a warm story about courage and friendship.

Tschüss, Papagei! is a story play with live musicians. Tim, an animal researcher at Zoo Zürich, loses his parrot Einstein after an experiment goes wrong, and only feathers are left in his lab. His friend Mara, a detective who tracks down lost things, joins the search, and the clues send them traveling through space and time.

It suits kids who can follow a spoken story in Swiss German.

Kerzenziehen is candle dipping: kids dip a wick into warm wax over and over, and a candle slowly grows. At Kirche Letten, run together with GZ Schindlergut, it happens in a roomy space with both paraffin and beeswax to choose from.

Kids and grown-ups are both welcome to dip. In the afternoon the Liechtblick café serves coffee and pastries, so a parent can sit down while the candles take shape.

A family tour of the Landesmuseum Zürich by lantern light. With lanterns lighting the way, kids go looking through the museum for the pictures and nativity scenes that tell the Christmas story.

It suits kids who like a search more than a lecture, and families looking for a calm, low-key start to the Christmas season.

Zurich's Samichlaus parade opens the St. Nicholas season. The Märlitram, the city's fairy-tale tram, leads richly decorated floats down Bahnhofstrasse under the Christmas lights, while many Samichläuse and their helpers, the Schmutzli, hand small gifts to children along the way.

At Bürkliplatz, the Samichlaus wraps up with a short ceremony to the sound of two brass bands. It suits preschoolers and young school kids who still believe in him.

Samichlaus is Zurich's St. Nicholas, and each Advent he and his helper Schmutzli move into a little hut in the Käferberg forest. Families follow a signposted path through the woods to find them. The pair chat with the kids and show them their Stube (living room) and bedroom.

It suits young kids who still believe in Samichlaus, and families who would rather visit him in the woods than at home.

Samichlaus and his helper Schmutzli stop at GZ Heuried, the community center that keeps llamas, alpacas, goats, dwarf sheep and rabbits. Among the animals, they tell stories and sing, and kids get their turn to recite a verse or sing a song for them.

They bring Grittibänzen for the children. It suits small kids who are excited about Samichlaus and can follow along in German.

Once a year Küssnacht turns off its street lights for a St. Nicholas parade. First come up to 250 Iffelen, some over 2.5 meters tall, slipping past in silence. St. Nicholas follows with torch bearers, then about 1,100 Klausjäger swinging cowbells in time and some 200 horn players.

It is dark and loud, so it suits kids who love a spectacle more than kids who startle at noise.

Dele Sosimi started out on keys in Fela Kuti's band Egypt 80 as a teenager and has spent four decades taking Afrobeat around the world. This family edition is a full live show by his six-piece band: trumpet, trombone, bass, percussion, drums, and Dele on keyboards and vocals. Expect funk grooves, Nigerian rhythms and a horn section, at a volume turned down for young ears.

Häsli Ingo the bunny and Nelly host a sing-along concert where parents join in too, to welcome Samichlaus season. Kids sing, dance and laugh along, and the popular Häsli Ingo songs are on the program.

It suits toddlers and young children who like to move to music. It is sung in German, so kids who don't speak it will follow the dancing more than the words.

A Christmas kids disco at Maison25, an event space by Paradeplatz that turns into a festive winter party room for the afternoon. Kids dance to children's songs and Christmas hits, and animators run games and entertainment.

There are small surprises for the kids. It suits children who like to move more than sit, with parents happy to stay and join in.

A breaking workshop where kids and their grown-ups learn first moves side by side. Dancers Kwangsuk «Issue» Park and Hyosung «Cho» Joo of eight2one lead simple movement tasks, partner exercises and a short group routine.

It borrows from the upcoming show Das Schwingfest, where a dog, a goat, a cow and a marmot try traditional Swiss wrestling, so moves from breaking, wrestling and the animal world all turn up.

Bellevue Noël is a Christmas market on Sechseläutenplatz, between the opera house and the lake, with more than 100 food and gift stalls, music and a fondue chalet upstairs.

Kids head for their own area of small houses, with crafts, painting, a carousel and a kids' bar. At the center stands a walk-in Advent wreath with a view over the market and the lake.

Every Advent, the Weihnachtsmarkt Dörfli fills the lanes and squares of Zurich's Niederdorf with about 70 decorated market huts and festive lights. Kids can dip their own colored candles at the Märlibaracke, watch the Fortuna Fire Crew's fire shows, and snack on crêpes, churros and Dutch mini pancakes.

It is a browsing market spread through old-town lanes, so it suits families happy to wander, snack and stop for a show.

Every day of the season, choirs sing from a Christmas tree on Werdmühleplatz, just off Bahnhofstrasse. Over 40 of them take turns, each with short sets that kids can watch from start to finish.

A small regional Christmas market surrounds the tree, with a children's carousel and a fondue chalet. It's outdoors and come-and-go, so it works with a baby in a stroller as well as with older kids.

Polarzauber fills the main hall of Zurich's main station with what it bills as Switzerland's largest indoor Christmas market: craft and food stalls, mulled wine and a kids' program all season. Kids watch the Lindt Christmas train circle the big tree, dance at the kids' disco and make crafts to take home.

Being indoors makes it an easy stop on a cold day or between trains.

A Christmas market on the Münsterhof square in the Old Town, framed by the Fraumünster church and the old guild houses. The wooden stalls lean toward local shops, Zurich brands and well-made gifts, with food stands from around the world.

For kids, the draw is the culture tent, with live music and storytelling, plus a slow wander through the decorated lanes. It suits a short after-school or weekend visit.

Six evenings a season, the outdoor Dolder rink turns into a disco: a light show, DJs Steven Sander and Marvellous80 playing hits, and a theme for each night, from a Halloween ghost ride to a Frozen night and a fireworks edition.

It suits kids who can already skate on their own and teens out with friends. Families can book a fondue table in the restaurant overlooking the ice.

Kids decorate their own gingerbread house in the kitchen of Atelier for Kids, a small art studio in Hottingen run by Belinda Chan Beaton. She shares tips for baking and icing, and LED lights go inside so the finished house glows as a table decoration through the holidays. Everyone gets an apron and baker's hat, and each house goes home wrapped. Grandparents and parents can join in too.

Circus Conelli bills itself as Switzerland's first Christmas circus, and it comes back to the Bauschänzli in central Zurich every winter. The show mixes acrobatics, comedy, dreamy poetic numbers and music.

It suits kids who can sit through a full show with an intermission. Daytime shows are the easy pick for younger children, while the gala dinner evenings are a separate, grown-up affair.

The lights go out at Kulturama, Zurich's museum of humankind, and families explore the exhibits by flashlight. A guide leads the group through the dark rooms while kids try to work out what the objects are and where the strange noises come from.

The whole tour happens in darkness, so it suits curious kids who enjoy some suspense. It isn't for toddlers or kids scared of the dark.

Rapperswil's Christkindlimärt turns the medieval old town into a Christmas market. During the big market week, more than 200 stalls stretch from the lakeshore along Marktgasse to Hauptplatz, making it one of the largest in Switzerland.

It is a place to stroll, browse and look at the lights rather than a program of activities, so it suits kids happy to wander alongside a parent.