Musée de la Confrérie des Vignerons

Between festivals, this is where the Fête des Vignerons can be seen. The Confrérie des Vignerons, which has staged the Fête twelve times since 1797, shows costumes from 1797 to 2019, models of its arenas and film of past editions in its own building, free of charge. UNESCO put the Fête on its intangible-heritage list in 2016. Pair it with the terraces of Lavaux, World Heritage since 2007.

Inside, the Council's meeting room sits beside rooms of costumes, engravings and objects from past festivals, with original film of 20th-century editions. Models show the arenas from 1927 to 2019, the last a 20,000-seat structure on the Place du Marché. A visit takes about 45 minutes. Afterwards, walk down to that square, a few minutes away, where every Fête has been staged since 1797.

The museum opens Tuesday to Sunday all year, so a winter visit works as well as a summer one; it is closed on Mondays except public holidays, and on 25 December and 1 January. The Fête itself comes about once a generation: the last ran from 18 July to 11 August 2019, and no next edition has been announced. The Confrérie's public Triennale comes every three years; the latest was on 28 June 2025.

Open Tuesday to Sunday, 11:00–17:00, and on public-holiday Mondays. Entry is free and individuals need no booking; groups can reserve a guided tour on +41 21 923 87 05. Allow about 45 minutes. The rooms are on the first floor of a 16th-century building, so ask about step-free access before going. Nothing is poured or sold here: the house shop sells books and music, not wine. The Musée historique de Vevey in the same building charges adults CHF 5.

The door is at Rue du Château 2, next to the Hôtel des Trois-Couronnes, about 800 m on foot from Vevey station. Direct trains take 14 minutes from Lausanne and 5–8 minutes from Montreux. From the same station the Train des Vignes (R7) climbs to Chexbres-Village in 7 minutes, into the terraces of the Lavaux & Vaud Heights Wine Trail.

The Musée de la Confrérie des Vignerons in Vevey is the free museum of the brotherhood that stages the Fête des Vignerons, on the first floor of the Château de Vevey. The Confrérie, whose records start in 1647, still sends experts into about 288 hectares of vines between Pully and Lavey three times a year to judge the work of the growers who tend them.

The society first called itself the Abbaye de l'Agriculture, and its oldest record, a minute book, dates from 22 June 1647. It gathered owners of vines, not growers. In the 17th century its yearly parade followed an assembly where the workers' efforts were discussed and criticised. Around 1770 it chose to reward the best instead, and in 1797 a stand for about 2,000 spectators on the Place du Marché turned the crowning into the first Fête.

Between festivals, the Confrérie's own public moment is the Triennale, held every three years since 1805. For the 2025 edition 67 winegrowers were judged, and 12 silver and 12 bronze medals were handed out, because gold is kept for the Fête. Each Fête is planned years ahead and at great cost: the 2019 edition was announced in 2010 and lost almost CHF 12 million.