Cheese Festival in Gruyères

Every first Sunday of May, the medieval, castle-topped town of Gruyères comes alive for its annual Cheese Festival, a celebration built entirely around the AOP-protected cheese that carries the town's name. Around twenty stands fill the car-free, cobblestoned streets, offering the chance to taste Gruyère AOP alongside Vacherin Fribourgeois AOP and other regional specialities from the Fribourg canton.

The festival keeps alive an old custom: cheesemakers traditionally used the spring gathering to clear out their cellars before the herds were driven up to summer mountain pastures. Visitors can watch cheese being made over an open fire using centuries-old methods, and craft demonstrations extend to other regional traditions, including the carving of wooden cream spoons and traditional lace-making. Gastronomic tastings throughout the day include classic fondue, raclette and Gruyère's celebrated double cream served alongside meringues.

Set against the backdrop of Gruyères Castle and the Swiss Alps beyond, the festival offers a genuinely intimate, community-scale alternative to Switzerland's larger city food events — a single spring day when a medieval village fully commits to celebrating the cheese that made it famous.