Philo aux Bains: The environmental cost of happiness with Gaël Brulé
2025-01-11 14:00 - 15:30 (Europe/Zurich) | Yurt
In a world where consumption is often synonymous with well-being, what are the environmental consequences of our choices? And above all, is it possible to redefine happiness in a more sober, planet-friendly way? In his book Le coût environnemental du bonheur, sociologist and researcher Gaël Brulé explores the links between our individual aspirations and their ecological impact. Combining philosophical reflection and sociological analysis, he suggests ways of rethinking happiness in the light of environmental challenges. In this café-philo, we’ll discuss some key questions: is our definition of happiness compatible with a world of limited resources? How can modern societies evolve towards sustainable models of well-being? And what concrete solutions can be implemented to reduce the environmental cost of our quest for happiness? Trained as an engineer, Gaël Brulé is a sociologist and professor of environmental health at the University of Applied Sciences in Geneva. He has worked in sociology on happiness. His research focuses on the links between well-being and social, institutional and ecosystem conditions. He is co-founder and editor-in-chief of the journal Sciences & Bonheur. The café-philo will take place at the Bains des Pâquis, on the pier under the yurt, and will be broadcast live on Facebook and recorded on YouTube.
Free admission.

Lantern workshop
2025-01-18 08:30 - 11:30, 2025-01-19 08:30 - 11:30 | Refreshment bar
Come and make your own lanterns for the parade of the unloved!
Let’s celebrate our fears and prejudices towards all those ugly, nasty, prickly, creepy, hairy, naked, obscure and misunderstood animals. All those who frighten, repel and disgust us.
** Workshops on January 18 and 19, 2025, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Bains des Pâquis refreshment center **
No registration and free admission, materials provided, all ages and accompanied children. Allow around an hour for the workshop to create your own lantern about your beloved animals!

Then come along with your beautifully lit lanterns to the two great parades of the unloved on the last weekend of the Geneva LUX festival, January 31 and February 1 at 6.30pm, starting from the Jardin Anglais.
Music and giant puppets accompany this luminous parade, with a grand acrobatic finale. Parades open to all, with access for wheelchairs, strollers, and all kinds of scaredy-cats!

Night swims
2025-01-22 18:00 - 20:00, 2025-02-26 18:00 - 20:00, 2025-03-26 18:00 - 20:00
Come and share the pleasure of swimming in cold water at night, in an atmosphere like no other! Les Bains offers food and drink to warm you up, and lifeguards are on hand to help. Night swims resume on November 6. From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Dates to follow :

November 27
December 11
January 22
February 26
March 26

Poetic aperitif
2025-01-25 11:00 - 12:00
Saturday 25 at 11 a.m., apéro poétique with Vince Fasciani.

Concert-sauna: Muovipussi
2025-01-25 21:00 - 22:30 | Sauna
It’s a premiere at the Bains… and a premiere not to be missed: a sauna concert, and not just any concert… In collaboration with the Am Stram Gram theater, we welcome Muovipussi, a colorful Finnish group, to warm up the Bains in the middle of January. A mix of virtuoso playing, pop and rap, the three musicians – Milla, Niklas and Heidi – offer a concert unlike any other in the sauna area. Admission to the concert is free. However, if you’d like to take advantage of the opportunity to have a sauna or steam bath, you’ll have to pay the usual entrance fee. This concert is a sort of second part to the show Mad in Finland at Am Stram Gram from January 17 to 26.

Poetic aperitif
2025-02-08 11:00 - 12:00
Saturday, February 8 at 11 a.m., carte blanche with PinkOpalino Editions.
With : Cesare Mongodi, Daniele Morresi, Andrea Poncioni

Tai-Chi classes
2025-02-09 10:00 - 11:00 | On the pier
Every Sunday at the Spa

June to September: 9:15 to 10:15 a.m.
October to May: 10am to 11am

In case of rain or wind: bistro-side shelter
Classes open to all – offered by Les Bains – no registration required

AUBP membership fee: CHF 20 per year
Admission to the baths : CHF 2.00 during the warm season

Tai chi teachers: Laurence Bovay, Careen Croset, Valérie Oppel, Marianne Schweizer
Sense of direction, praise for slowness, muscle tone, breathing, meditation, flexibility, memory, balance

Philo aux Bains: Can press cartoons still say it all? with Gérald Herrmann
2025-02-09 10:30 - 12:00
Press cartoons, an incisive and irreverent form of expression, are today at a crossroads. Between the rise of explicit or implicit censorship, the reluctance of certain editorial offices to publish drawings deemed controversial, and the misunderstandings generated by their out-of-context distribution on social networks, this art form seems more than ever to be questioning its role and scope. Is press cartooning still a pillar of freedom of expression? Can it continue to play its role as a critical mirror in a society where offense is sometimes perceived as a crime?
To address these issues, we are delighted to welcome Gérald Herrmann, a renowned press cartoonist whose sharp wit and enlightened reflections explore the contradictions of our times. Through his experience, he will question the place of press cartoons in the 21st century, and the very meaning of humor and satire in our democracies.
“Press cartoons aren’t designed to please everyone; they’re there to challenge, provoke and, sometimes, disturb. It’s living proof of freedom of expression.” (Gérald Herrmann)
The café-philo will take place at the Bains des Pâquis, on the pier, under the yurt, and will be broadcast live on Facebook and YouTube. Free admission.

Poetic aperitif
2025-02-22 11:00 - 12:30 | Yurt
Saturday February 22 at 11:00 am, carte blanche for Pavel Arsenev.
Pavel Arsenev, born in 1986 in Leningrad (USSR), is a poet, artist and theorist.
He currently lives in Marseille, where he is one of the bearers of the independent literary magazine [Translit], which brings together texts (both reflective and creative) by authors and activists who have fled post-Soviet countries. This magazine, which he directed in St. Petersburg from 2006, was one of the few literary journals in Russia devoted to political and aesthetic dissidence. In 2012, he was awarded the Andrei Bely Prize in the “literary projects” category.
His poetic texts have been translated into English, French, German, Italian, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Czech, Polish, Bulgarian, Roman and Hebrew, and published in collections, magazines and artists’ journals.
As a textual artist, he works on the graphic aspects and materialization of poetic text, creating textographic videos, textual objects and installations, and poetic readings-performances.
After preparing his doctoral thesis on ‘littérature du fait’ at the University of Geneva (defended in 2021, a book based on this work has just been published), he was welcomed to France as a researcher thanks to the PAUSE Program at the Collège de France. He currently teaches at the Sorbonne on the material history of the Russian and Soviet avant-gardes through the prism of questions of medium.
Books published :
– Things that don’t fit in your head (AnnaNova, St.-Petersburg, 2005),
– Colorless green ideas sleep furiously (Kraft, Moscow, St.Petersburg, 2011)
– Spasm of accomodation (Commune editions, Berkeley, 2017)
– Reported speech (Cicada Press, New York, 2018)
– Lo spasmo di alloggio (Arcipelago Itaca Edizioni, Bologna, 2021).
– Russo lingua non materna (Seri Editore, Macerata, 2024).
– Le russe comme non maternelle (Vanloo éditions/CIPM, Aix-en-Provemce , 2021).

New Moon Sauna
2025-02-28, 2025-03-29 | Sauna
Once a month, a back-to-basics day to mark each new moon: an invitation to respect silence and nudity in the Spa’s wellness area throughout the day.
A timeless moment to retreat from the hustle and bustle of the outside world and reconnect with yourself. The proposal is simple: take a break from the constant stimuli of our daily lives and relearn how to listen to silence, since the New Moon is the period most conducive to introspection and rejuvenation.
Welcome to an atmosphere of pure relaxation!

Meet in the large sauna (no bathing suit required)
Meditation 11 a.m.
Aufguss ceremony 6:30 p.m.

Exhibition: Clap sur le Léman, part five
2025-03-07 - 2025-03-28 | On the pier
Clap sur Léman – Part Five – March 12 to April 31, 2025
Films with Lake Geneva as their backdrop are actually quite rare. Yet Swiss and foreign filmmakers regularly set up shop on the shores of the lake to shoot a few scenes. Directors’ relationships with water vary greatly. For some, it’s just a distant backdrop, for others an integral part of the narrative. Unlike the mountain, which is a character in many films, the lake is not an actor in its own right in any fiction, except in the protean work of Godard, who lived on its shores in Rolle.
Strangely enough, despite the presence of many talented directors and dream castings, virtually none of the films shot on Lake Geneva’s waters have been a hit with audiences. These films will be remembered only by cinephiles.

Poetic aperitif
2025-03-08 11:00 - 12:00 | Yurt
Joséphine de Weck is a writer, actress and stage designer. In 2019, she published her first novel, Ambassadrice de la marque, with L’Age d’Homme. Her next book, Le train, will be published in late 2025 by La Veilleuse. In autumn 2025, L’Arche will also publish her translation of Ex, written in 2022 by playwright Marius von Mayenburg, which will be directed by Thibaut Wenger at the Théâtre des Martyrs in Brussels. She recently toured France and Belgium with Henrik Ibsen’s “Un ennemi du peuple”, directed by Thibaut Wenger, and starred in “Pygmalion” alongside Dominique Bourquin and Nicolas Müller, directed by Michel Toman.”

Le train is the story of a woman who gets on a train and prefers to stay there rather than live her life. It’s the story of a woman forced to flee in order to escape. It’s the journey needed to rebuild her life.

Philo aux Bains: Degrowth, a myth? with Timothée Parrique
2025-03-09 14:00 - 15:30 | Yurt
What if the idea of infinite growth was just a myth? What if our societies could prosper while respecting the planet’s limits? Degrowth, often misunderstood, suggests another way forward, that of refocusing on the essentials, solidarity and simplicity. What does “living better with less” really mean? What changes does it imply for our lifestyles, our values and our economy?

To explore these questions, we are honored to welcome Timothée Parrique, economist and leading author on degrowth, to the FIFDH. His seminal work, Ralentir ou périr : L’économie de la décroissance, questions our obsession with GDP and calls for a profound transformation of our relationship with consumption, work and nature.
“Degrowth is not recession, but an invitation to rethink what makes a successful life and a sustainable society.” (Timothée Parrique)
The café-philo will take place at the Bains des Pâquis, on the pier, under the yurt, and will be broadcast live on Facebook and YouTube. Free admission.

Poetic aperitif
2025-03-15 11:00 - 12:00 | Yurt
Marius Daniel Popescu, poet and writer (Rilke Prize in Sierre 2006, Robert Walser Prize in Biel 2008, Federal Literature Prize in Berne 2012).
He is also the creator and editor of the literary journal “le persil”, which, since 2004, has been open to young talent and established writers in French-speaking Switzerland.

Clown improv
2025-03-19 19:30 - 20:30 | Yurt
4 Clowns take control of the stage to improvise with the audience’s help! Various duets follow one another, guided by a Master of Ceremonies who collects suggestions from the audience.

Project by Cédric Blacha, Lauriane Naulet and Clara Urio

Duration: approx. 1 hour

Free admission under the yurt

After the rain: participatory performance and dance
2025-03-22 16:00 - 17:00 | On the pier
What if rain became one of your sources of inspiration and physical expression? Join us for a performance by Global Water Dances – Geneva.
And… explore rain in a different way, letting your body soak up its rhythms, textures, dynamics and energy!
For the occasion, discover our rain tags. They reveal invisible and inspiring messages!
Through this original initiative, we invite you to reflect on our relationship with rain and celebrate World Water Day.

Poetic aperitif
2025-03-29 11:00 - 12:00
Reading on Saturday March 29 by Marina Salzmann.
After travelling and working in a variety of professions (sailor, kitchen maid, office worker, art model, waitress, etc.) Marina Salzmann settled in Geneva, where she studied at the Faculty of Arts and became a teacher.
She has collaborated with musicians, artists and sound poets, and co-founded an online magazine.
With Bernard Campiche Editeur, she has published short stories, novels and, recently, her first collection of poetry. Various contributions have also appeared in literary magazines and in several collective works.
Latest book: fresco stasera, Bernard Campiche Editeur, 2024

Philo aux Bains: What it means to animalize with Kaoutar Harchi
2025-04-05 10:30 - 12:00 | Yurt
What makes us human? Why and how have we established a boundary with the animal? And what does this separation reveal about our societies, our hierarchies and our violence?
In Ainsi l’animal et nous, sociologist and writer Kaoutar Harchi examines how we have constructed the figure of the animal as an inferior, exploitable, killable being – and how this same logic has served, throughout history, to justify the exclusion and domination of certain human groups: women, racial minorities, the working classes. For if we animalize animals, we have also animalized certain humans, the better to relegate them to the margins of the moral community.
Part theoretical analysis, part intimate reflection, Kaoutar Harchi’s book invites us to rethink our relationship with animality and violence, and to envisage new forms of justice and coexistence.
This meeting, organized as part of the Histoire et Cité festival in collaboration with Les Indépendantes, will be an opportunity to explore these crucial questions with the author, in relation to history, philosophy and contemporary social struggles.
The discussion will take place at the Bains des Pâquis, on the pier, under the yurt, and will be broadcast live on Facebook and available for replay on YouTube. Free admission.

Poetic aperitif
2025-04-05 14:00 - 15:00
Saturday, April 5 at 2pm, as part of the Histoire et Cité festival, a reading of “Le sanglier” by Philippe Constantin, accompanied by Jacques Siron, music.

Exhibition: Science explorers, past and present
2025-04-18 - 2025-05-22
April 18 to May 22, opening April 24 at 6:00 pm
Just outside Geneva lies CERN, the world’s largest particle physics laboratory.
For over 70 years, thousands of scientists from all over the world have been carrying out fundamental research into matter and the Universe, using huge, sophisticated machines, gas pedals and particle detectors.
CERN has selected a series of photos from its archives, dating from the 1950s to the 1980s. These images retrace a piece of the laboratory’s history, where futuristic machines and cutting-edge experts rub shoulders. Often intriguing, sometimes unusual, these snapshots bear witness to CERN’s formidable human adventure, where scientific exploration is combined with passion, a spirit of sharing and, occasionally, a touch of humor.

Poetic aperitif
2025-04-19 11:00 - 12:00
On the bangs of words
Saturday April 19 at 11am, reading by Yoanna Raccimolo.
Born in 1977, of Sardinian and Neapolitan origin, she trained in political social sciences at university, where she worked as a research assistant with the FNRS. She completed her studies with a course in human rights. She wrote her dissertation in Russia, where she stayed for over six months. After working in the social field for several years, she decided to devote herself fully to her passion for words. Using poetic language, she explores the symbiosis between the imaginary and the real, and captures the complexity of multiple identities.

New Moon Sauna
2025-04-27 | Sauna
Once a month, a back-to-basics day to mark each new moon: an invitation to respect silence and nudity in the Spa’s wellness area throughout the day.
A timeless moment to retreat from the hustle and bustle of the outside world and reconnect with yourself. The proposal is simple: take a break from the constant stimuli of our daily lives and relearn how to listen to silence, since the New Moon is the period most conducive to introspection and rejuvenation.
Welcome to an atmosphere of pure relaxation!

Meet in the large sauna (no bathing suit required)
Meditation 10:30 a.m. (not 11 a.m.)
Aufguss ceremony 2.30pm and 6.30pm

Poetic aperitif
2025-05-03 11:00 - 12:00
Saturday, May 3, 11 a.m. Reading by Leyla Tazber, accompanied by Dmitry Rasul-Kareye
Leyla Tatzber’s recently published Accordez-moi is a novel inspired by the music of Transylvania, and pays tribute to the work of the great Bartók Béla. This year, 2025, marks the anniversary of his death. We are therefore delighted to read extracts from his work as part of this tribute.
Leyla Tatzber teaches, writes and regularly organizes literary events. She is the author of two novels (Peut mieux faire and Tache de Beur) and a collection of short stories, (Rondes), published by éditions de l’Hèbe; a collection of poetry (De mes dunes à tes flancs) published by éditions des Sables. She has also writteń several academic or literary articles in various journals and made short films with the Service Écoles- Médias de Genève.
Accordez-moi is his fifth book.
Dmitry Rasul-Kareye
Principal clarinet of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (Geneva).
First Grand Prix of the Concours International Claude Debussy 2010 in Paris.
Associate of Royal Academy of Music (London).
Founder and Director of the Soloist Academy.
His career as an orchestral musician began in 2006, when he joined the Orchestre du Festival de Verbier, where he also performed solo with Master James Levine on piano. In the same year, he temporarily joined the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, leaving to take up the position of principal clarinet with the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2009, he won the competition for principal clarinet of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, a position he currently holds.

La Traversée 2025: race cancelled
2025-05-07 10:00 - 12:00
We regret to inform you that Traversée 2025 has been definitively cancelled.
The conditions are not ripe for the event to take place one of these coming Sundays under the optimum safety conditions to which we have committed ourselves.
We would like to extend our warmest thanks to the many people who helped us once again in this adventure, most of whom got up and got ready at the crack of dawn last Sunday, August 31.
Thanks to the Sauvetage, the paddlers, kayakers, volunteer friends who helped carry the bags and supplies, the boat drivers, the AUBP employees and the Buvette des Bains – who prepared soup for all the participants.
to Genève Plage, to the OBAYA troupe, to the Lake Police who supervised and advised us as they do every year, to the faithful Samaritans, to the AUBP swimmers Pascal, Alex, Eustache, Anne-So, the two Simons, Mounir and all the other Givrés Yves, Pete, David,…, to Luz and Tisse l’Avenir, to Cédric Marendaz for his poster, to our families and loved ones.
Thanks at last! Your enthusiasm feeds us, and the dish will be served again.
Keep swimming and ……
See you next year!

Conference: The joy of being yourself
2025-05-08 19:00 - 20:00
After numerous anxiety attacks and feeling himself dying from the inside out at work, Luc Berthoud took the decision in 2020 to transform his life. He discovered his hypersensitivity and embarked on a wide variety of projects (healer, speaker, coach, etc.).
Come and discover the inspiring story of Luc, a dawn swimmer at Les Bains who has allowed himself to meet and intensely experience the joy of his inner child. He’ll share the keys that help him live the joy of being himself. Particularly fond of sharing, Luc encourages interaction and includes a question-and-answer session.
The conference will take place in the Bains des Pâquis yurt, free admission.

Philo aux Bains: Artificial intelligence, knowledge and society with Monsieur Phi
2025-05-10 14:00 - 15:30 | Yurt
Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing our relationship with knowledge, work and machines. Between fascinating promises and legitimate fears, it is redefining the way we apprehend the world, thought and even our own humanity. Are we witnessing a cognitive revolution? Can AI really think, understand or know? And what impact will these advances have on society and our daily lives?
In the company of Mr. Phi, a well-known philosopher, Youtuber and popularizer, we’ll be looking at the major challenges of AI, in relation to knowledge, robotization and our relationship with machines. What place does the human being still have in the face of ever more powerful systems? What does it mean to “understand” in a world where algorithms produce knowledge without any real consciousness? And how far can we automate decisions without losing control?
A fascinating exchange that will lead us to question the philosophical, ethical and political implications of a future where intelligence may no longer be exclusively human.
The café-philo will take place at the Bains des Pâquis, on the pier, under the yurt, and will be broadcast live on Facebook and available to stream on YouTube. Free admission.
