Mission August 1st !

In this exceptional year, the FDFA is organising 'Mission August 1st' as an online celebration of Swiss National Day for Swiss people living abroad.

At the heart of this project is a multilingual interactive website created by Presence Switzerland with lots of ideas for celebrating the national holiday while social distancing amid the ongoing pandemic. The Swiss community and Swiss enthusiasts around the world can thus join in the fun from the comfort of their own homes.

The online platform has everything needed for a traditional Swiss National Day: a recipe for a braided loaf, instructions for making a lantern, a range of Swiss music, and video tutorials for trying out some Swiss traditions like yodelling or flag throwing.

The 'Mission August 1st' platform also aims to create a link from Switzerland and its embassies to members of the Swiss expatriate community, who can watch video messages from Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis (https://www.missione1agosto.org/) and more than 40 embassies.

Keeping in the spirit of 1 August, which normally is all about getting together and sharing with others, the online platform also has a participatory element with, for example, a place to share creations and recipes, a Swiss Sounds Quiz, and a social thread of all online posts using the hashtag #SwissNationalDay. This is the first year an online platform has been created for all Swiss citizens and friends of Switzerland to celebrate the national holiday.

On 1 August, visitors to the platform will be able to view and comment on the celebrations and the speech by the President of the Swiss Confederation, livestreamed from the Rütli meadow.