Lake Night Festival

LAKE NIGHT FESTIVAL / James Reiss (June 1987) Some beer-and-bratwurst vending stands marked Angst —a famUy name—raked in Swiss francs the night all Zurich braved the rain to pack the lake side parks and hear fantastic Berlioz boom from huge speakers anchored just offshore. Umbrellas scrunched, we listened while the Death March treaded water; then we elbowed crowds to reach the Limmat's bridge and see the fire works shot from darkened barges light a fog of faces: guzzlers, businessmen, Switzers with dogs in tow, their kids afloat, as if the whole Confederation peered up through the gloom at once, gemütlich, rich beyond their safe deposit boxes—faces glowing green, then gold, then starry white. The Missouri Review · 285 ...