Petanque Tournament
2025-09-14 09:00 - 17:00 (Europe/Zurich)
Mixed triples
Sunday, September 14, 10 a.m.
Registration from 9 a.m., 10.00 per person

Come and sit down, I'm listening
2025-09-14 14:00 - 18:30, 2025-09-28 14:00 - 18:30 | On the pier
Viens t’asseoir je t’écoute is the flagship project of RACONTE-MOI, a non-profit association made up of volunteers who offer a free, confidential and caring listening space in the public space to all passers-by who wish to participate. The project is apolitical and non-confessional.
Context
The starting point is a simple observation: our society is more connected every day (transport, information, social networks, etc.), yet the social fabric is increasingly fragile. The individual sphere is growing at the expense of the public and social sphere, people are exchanging less and less easily with their fellow citizens, and our lives are increasingly individual, independent of collective dynamics.
A number of issues arise from this: isolation, particularly among the elderly, the weakening of community life and social cohesion, and mental health issues rooted in this lack of collective support.
This project is part of a general approach that does not target one of these issues specifically, but by virtue of its flexibility and “broad spectrum”, it seeks to give fellow citizens the tools to solve these issues through listening. That’s what this project is all about: developing the concept of benevolent listening within society as a solution to the issues raised. In fact, this project attracts both the socially excluded and people intrigued by this format, to be able to exchange ideas with strangers.
On the one hand, Viens t’assis, je t’écoute volunteers have been trained in active and benevolent listening: learning to offer attention to others, developing patience and tolerance, suspending judgments, developing benevolence. On the other hand, they offer passers-by the chance to be listened to and thus have the opportunity to chat with someone (fighting isolation), meet people from backgrounds different from our own (pursuing the objective of social mixing and cohesion), break down the ego/other barrier (confronting living-together), reinforce our confidence in our fellow citizens and in their benevolence (developing social cohesion), obtain emotional support by the simple fact of being heard, and ask for professional help.
On this last point, volunteers are explicitly asked not to give advice to those they listen to. Volunteers are not mental health professionals, nor are they intended to be, since the aim is to be “open to all”. There are times, however, when people ask for or need professional help. At this point, the association’s volunteer hands over to the session coordinator, who takes the time with the person being listened to to find the local institution that can best meet his or her needs.
In such cases, Viens t’assis, je t’écoute can act as a reorientation platform, linking beneficiaries with aid structures.
Operational & technical details
The organization is very simple: a dozen volunteers per session, each seated on a chair, with an empty chair in front of them. To make things easier for passers-by, the chairs are placed in a line. The association’s sign, bearing its name (“Viens t’asseoir je t’écoute”) and the key points of the approach (free of charge, confidentiality, benevolence, etc.) is then put up.
A key element is location: volunteers need to be visible, and there needs to be plenty of foot traffic. Unless the aim is to target a specific population (e.g. a retirement home, a student library, etc.).
Chairs are spaced about 1m50 apart: enough privacy, and enough proximity to make the project visible from the outside. In addition to the 10 volunteers, there is a coordinator. This person will coordinate the three phases of a listening session:
> Briefing (approx. 30 min): introductory tour, review of the key points of the association’s Code of Ethics (sent to volunteers in advance), what to do in certain situations, sharing of experience, questions and answers.
> The listening session (2h30-3h00): the volunteers sit on the chairs, and the coordinator goes out to meet passers-by to answer their questions, invite them to participate, and keep an eye on the volunteers and provide support if needed.
> Debriefing: feedback on everyone’s experience (without sharing the content of the stories, which remain confidential), points for improvement.
Link to the Code of Ethics and the practical guide for volunteers: https: //www.jetecoute.org/instructions
For volunteer management, a WhatsApp group is used for volunteer announcements, and a group for coordinators. Registration is handled via the website. Important point: for each session, an equitable distribution between old and new volunteers is organized, to help motivated volunteers gain experience and skills, and thus enable the project to mature more rapidly. Motivated volunteers can then become coordinators to run their own listening sessions.
Deployment & Impact
To date, the association has carried out a total of 19 listening sessions, involving around 70 volunteers and over 600 people listened to. The project is of great interest to many people and is growing all the time.
Locally: demand from volunteers is very high. In less than 30 minutes, 48 places spread over 4 listening sessions were filled, from a pool of 140 volunteers. The association’s founders receive many requests for contact, sometimes from abroad, via their Instagram account. As a result, requests for replication in other European cities are pouring in and multiplying. For the moment, Paris, Brussels and Lausanne are being developed.
Feedback from participants and volunteers: very positive! Volunteers are delighted with this simple yet powerful experience. So were the participants, some of whom even came specifically to take part. Some participants have been put in touch with professional services to ensure they receive appropriate medical follow-up. Even if the impact is difficult to quantify, the listening sessions have had real and powerful consequences for the participants.
Given last year’s weather conditions, many sessions were cancelled, which is why we are requesting the Rue de la Monnaie space to alternate with the Bains des Paquis for the 2025 season, so that we can be sheltered during listening sessions. What’s more, offering these spaces in the center of town and in a high-traffic area makes sense and makes listening accessible to people strolling through the center on Saturday afternoons.
Ideally, sessions will alternate on Saturdays every 15 days at Passage de la Monnaie (subject to approval by the Canton), and here are the dates on which we’d like to continue at Bains des Paquis on Sundays between May and October.

Cold water swimming lessons
2025-09-15 12:30 - 13:30 | On the pier
Would you like to start cold water swimming and join a movement of several hundred people who swim all winter at the Bains? Would you like to enjoy the many benefits of cold water swimming (immune defenses, mental well-being, etc.)?
From September 1, Les Bains will be offering classes every Monday between 12:30 and 1:30 pm in groups of up to 8, to give you all the keys you need to get started.
This course is designed for intermediate and advanced swimmers (we don’t teach you how to swim during the course).
Registration at the Rotonde des Bains, CHF 10 per course.

Chimera
2025-09-17 19:00 - 19:30
” Chimère” is Compagnie Sud’s new play, designed to be presented in the idyllic setting of the Bains des Pâquis. It is an ode to the world of dreams.
Performed by 6 dancers from diverse backgrounds, Chimère calls for a happy irrationality in which ecstasy and fantasy intermingle, and where peaceful insouciance is promised to the happy dreamer.”
Dancers: Sheba Wangeci, Angie Sabbé, Mariana Morales Tomaz, Maéna Iafare Edeline, Jean-Christy Olembe, Isabelle Brambilla
Choreography: Isabelle Brambilla on behalf of Compagnie Sud

Dansehabile workshop
2025-09-20 11:00 - 12:30
Saturday, September 20, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
This workshop offers an approach directly linked to the universe of the show Le Chant des Récifs.
Guided by Simon Ramseier, the workshop offers a poetic and collective immersion, encouraging the imagination, the link to the group and an inclusive experience of movement.
Workshop open to all bodies and all ages.

Performance Dansehabile
2025-09-20 17:00 - 17:30
Saturday, September 20, 5 p.m.

Choreographer: Simon Ramseier
Dancers: Magda Filipowski, Maud Leidbundgut, Benoît Dumont, Luca Formica, Camilla Stanga, Maroussia Ehrnrooth
This poetic and committed creation brings together professional artists and dancers with disabilities. Inspired by coral reefs, symbols of diversity and fragility, it brings together art, inclusion and ecology. Presented in an emblematic venue accessible to the general public, this revival aims to make culture accessible to all, and to showcase the richness of human diversity on stage.

Opening of the winter area and pre-sale of winter season tickets
2025-09-21 09:00 - 21:30 | Sauna
The Les Bains winter wellness area (saunas, steam rooms and Turkish bath) opens its doors on Sunday September 21 at 9:00 am.
Until then, the Les Bains will be undergoing its seasonal makeover, with three weeks of sauna installation work starting on Monday September 1, which means, among other things, the end of the season for the women’s area.
Meanwhile, those who want to avoid the queue to buy a wristband giving access to the winter swimming facilities can do so at the rotunda…

Job offer
2025-09-26 08:00 - 2025-10-15 17:00
Position to be filled
We are looking for an employee 60% year-round on a permanent contract, with opportunities for advancement.
Start date: December1, 2025.
Prerequisite: to know Les Bains, understand its spirit and perpetuate it, in accordance with our charter of values. Altruism and team spirit.
Reception position: 60%. Irregular hours, evenings, mornings, weekends, according to schedule. Tuesdays reserved exclusively for women during the autumn/winter/spring period.
Specifications: customer reception, sales, rentals, cashiering, cleaning, etc.
Knowledge of one or more foreign languages welcome. A pool plus lifesaving certificate would also be an advantage (possibility of holding a partial lifesaving station in summer). Possibility of obtaining certification on the job.
Send your job offers to: info@aubp.ch
Application deadline: October 15.

Apéro poétique: Véronique Emmenegger
2025-09-27 11:00 - 12:00 | Yurt
Véronique Emmenegger, born in Paris in 1963, is a Franco-Swiss writer living in Lausanne.
After a rebellious education at Collège de Morges and Gymnasium in Lausanne, she was one of the “young reporters” selected in a competition launched by l’Hebdo which offered each winner the chance to write a report. Véronique left for London and produced her first double-page spread on punks. It was on British soil that she wrote her first novel, “Mademoiselle Faust”, a city of many departures.

Poetic aperitifs
2025-09-27 11:00 - 2025-10-01 12:00
Season 2025-2026
Discover the program

Philo aux Bains: How technofascists took power
2025-09-28 10:30 - 12:00
What if real power was no longer wielded in ballot boxes or parliaments, but in lines of code, digital infrastructures and the messianic dreams of Silicon Valley? In their hard-hitting essay, Apocalypse Nerds, journalists Nastasia Hadjadji and Olivier Tesquet analyze the emergence of a new regime of authority they call technofascism: a distributed, opaque form of power, where the state reprograms itself like a start-up and visionary billionaires – Musk, Thiel, Vance, Yarvin – sketch out the contours of an anti-democratic future.
Combining journalistic investigation and philosophical reflection, the authors map this shift from the political to the technological, and highlight a disturbing recomposition of the imaginary of power. Far from a science-fiction dystopia, Apocalypse Nerds reveals a present already in progress, where the old tension between Enlightenment and Anti-Enlightenment, democracy and authoritarianism, emancipation and selection, is replayed.
We invite you to come and talk to Nastasia Hadjadji and Olivier Tesquet about this captivating investigation, which questions our relationship with technology, democracy and the future.
The meeting will take place under the Bains yurt, free admission.

Show: La carpe d'or ou les caprices de maman (The golden carp or Mom's whims)
2025-09-28 17:00 - 18:00 | Yurt
The story takes place above, around and under Lake Geneva. There are airs, humans, currents and fish. Magic too, of course.
Joëlle draws, Yveline plays the violin and Deirdre narrates in a gentle dance of words, notes and lines.
Let us carry you away in this tale that dispels greed and restores the joy of simple pleasures, like gazing at a lake at dusk.
Running time: 40 minutes
Narration: Deirdre Foster
Illustrations: Joëlle Gagliardini
Music: Yveline Schwab
Design: Compagnie du Chat de Bla 2025

Huma exhibition
2025-10-02 17:00 - 2025-11-09 17:00
And what would you pack in your suitcase?
Opening October 2 at 5pm
The exhibition takes the form of a memory game inspired by the classic “In my suitcase, there are…”: “Look at each panel once, reading the word lists. At the end of your turn, can you remember all the objects? Can you recite the whole list?” A journey for young and old, to immerse, reflect, and perhaps… recognize yourself.
An exhibition by the Païdos association

Full Moon Sauna
2025-10-07 20:30 - 23:30
On full moon nights, the saunas are open until 11:30 pm.
Enjoy the magic of the Night Baths with AufGuss ceremonies, a brazier, clay to coat your body, ice cubes and orange pieces.

Poetic aperitif
2025-10-11 11:00 - 12:00
Michèle Makki
Michèle Makki is a history buff. She holds a master’s degree in philosophy and French literature, as well as a bachelor’s degree in Italian, and has taught Latin and French during her professional career. A journalist for some time with the Swiss daily L’Impartial, she has given lectures on historical figures, published poems and critical articles in Écriture, Nova and Vetera (magazines published in French-speaking Switzerland), and co-authored a book with Oleg Stépanovitch Kochtchouk (Michel Barde. Un homme, une cité, Éditions Slatkine, Geneva, 2008).
The author will read poems from her collection ” Tes Fleuves sont la mer “, Éditions des Sables, May 2022, and previously unpublished poems from ” L’humus inaccompli des steppes “, forthcoming from Éditions des Sables.

Theater Festival
2025-10-11 17:00 - 18:00
Les Triplettes de Grenette, in collaboration with La Fête du Théâtre
Human-scale puppet show at the Bains de Pâquis.
Three grandmothers on the go, with whom you won’t want to miss the party.
Welcome to the Triplettes de Grenette with Huguette, Mirette and Violette.
Good-natured, they love to sing and chat.
Their specialty: celebrating the joy of being alive. To do so, anything goes. Humor and surprises are in their suitcases.
Popular and authentic characters, they have the art of bringing people together. With their playfulness, they offer an offbeat take on the 3rd age.
With : Cie SSloane Kersusan, Edwige Latrille and Maxime Goncalves
Photo credit: Nicephore Tsimbidaros

PâqueBO - a fantastic and unusual lakeside installation.
2025-10-16 - 2026-02-15
Opening : Thursday, October 16, 5 to 9 p.m.
PâqueBO is a cultural, social and inclusive project run by the Fondation Cap Loisirs, in partnership with the Bains des Pâquis and the Bâto collective.
This poetic installation was imagined by people with intellectual disabilities taking part in Cap Loisirs activities, and by scenographers and visual artists.
To be discovered in the pool in front of the Buvette from October 16.
With the support of the Republic and Canton of Geneva, Champ libre – Culture en tous lieux (culture.ge.ch) and Fonds Mécénat SIG.

Poetic aperitif
2025-10-25 11:00 - 12:00
Philippe Gindre, born in May 1973. He lives in Geneva and elsewhere.

Refusing honors
Set off into the background
Landing on a wire.

Relié, Délié is the title of a collection of poems published by Editions des Sauvages in June 2025. Around these facetiously anti-establishment, offensively positivist and confusingly religious poems, the author proposes a reading-performance exploring various interactions between poetry and music, accompanying himself with guitar loops created live with a looper, as well as interspersing a few musical parts according to the inspiration of the moment.

Philippe Gindre was angry with school from an early age, for all sorts of good reasons, and did everything he could to turn out badly. But books and music, walks in the forest and river baths prevented him from doing so. He has published three novels, an album and, recently, a collection of poetry published by Editions des Sauvages.

Improclowns
2025-10-30 19:30 - 20:30
4 unpredictable clowns, a charismatic Mistress of Ceremonies and a shower of inspirations: this is the explosive alchemy that will set this season’s first improv performance at La Yourte des Bains des Pâquis alight! Get ready for an avalanche of bright silliness and laughter, punctuated by poetic sparks.
With : Clara Urio, Éléonore Gür, Eva Marlinge, Julie Serrano and Lauriane Naulet

Full Moon Sauna
2025-11-05 08:00 - 23:30 | Sauna
Once a month, when the moon is full, our winter facilities stay open until 11:30 p.m. so you can relax in the baths under the moon’s watchful eye. Braziers, ice cubes, clay and orange wedges add to this moment like no other…
Aufguss ceremonies take place during the evening. This practice of Northern European origin, associated with Finnish and Germanic saunas, consists of an “infusion” of steam flavored with essential oils to increase the humidity level. This purifying collective ritual is designed to intensify the benefits of the sauna through an immersive multisensory experience: intense heat, aromatic scents, sometimes music, for a deep sense of letting go and complete rejuvenation.

Night swimming
2025-11-05 18:00 - 20:00
Here we go again for another winter. Come and wriggle your fins in deliciously icy water under the stars.
6 dates to remember: November 5 and 26, 2025. December 17, 2025, January 28, 2026, February 25, 2026, March 25, 2026, between 6 and 8 pm.

Poetic aperitif
2025-11-08 11:00 - 12:00
Gwendoline Soublin
In conjunction with the SPECIMEN show at Théâtre Am Stram Gram (for teenagers and adults), Gwendoline Soublin offers a new reading in Geneva of her text “Sous la yourte”.

Through the day of Lucy, a supermarket employee whose daily life goes off the rails, we explore, in reverse, the strata of Evolution. Lucy is thrown out of the “capitalocene”, she retraces the eras of life on Earth, changes perspective, and takes a clear look at the Homo sapiens we’ve become. This is the intimate, “prehisto-evolutionary” epic that Spécimen takes us on. Ecology and fantasy are at the heart of this original, poetic text.

Biography of the author
Born in 1987, Gwendoline Soublin trained as an actress at ENSATT in Lyon, before receiving support from ARTCENA for her text, Swany Song. She writes texts for adults, young people and puppets. Spotted and awarded, his texts have won the German Ba-Wü and Kindertheaterpreis 2022 awards, and in France the BMK-TNS 2020 and JATL 2017 awards. They have been selected by the Comédie-Française, Jeunes Textes en Liberté, Eurodram, Prix Armand-Gatti, Collidram and Scénic Youth committees. His first novel, Tout l’or des nuits, was published this spring 2025 by Actes Sud.
OFFER: those attending the reading will receive a voucher for a preferential rate to come and see the show on either Saturday November 8 at 5pm or Sunday November 9 at 5pm.

Improclows
2025-11-13 19:30 - 20:30
“Come and take a bath in clownery on Thursday, November 13 at 7:30 p.m. at the Yourte des Bains!
4 clowns and 1 master of ceremonies to make you laugh, move you and make you experience unique moments” Cie TAKE CARE

LUNA NOVA OBSCURA
2025-11-20 09:30 - 13:00
Once a month, at the time of the new moon, the Spa’s wellness area offers quiet, introspective mornings: a suspended moment when we withdraw from the external tumult to reconnect with ourselves. The new moon invites us to take a break and relearn how to listen to silence…
Aufguss ceremonies take place during the morning. This practice of Northern European origin, associated with Finnish and Germanic saunas, consists of an “infusion” of steam flavored with essential oils to increase humidity levels. This purifying collective ritual is designed to intensify the benefits of the sauna through an immersive multisensory experience: intense heat, aromatic scents, sometimes music, for a deep sense of letting go and complete rejuvenation.

Apéro Poétique
2025-11-22 11:00 - 12:00
Stéphane Blok’s reading
Balade avec les esprits, published by Bernard Campiche.
Spirit or spirits

Whatever
The earth is strewn
From what was
And already haunted
Because it will be

Lanterns to remember
2025-11-30 17:00 - 18:30
A moving moment. Launching of lanterns for each feminicide during the year.
Too many, far too many. 25 to date!
The ceremony will be attended by Nathalie Fontanet, State Councillor in charge of the Department of Finance, Human Resources and External Affairs, Alfonso Gomez, Mayor of the City of Geneva in charge of the Department of Finance, Environment and Housing, and the Director of UN Women Geneva.
Event organized by the two Soroptimist International clubs of Geneva and Club Zonta International du Grand Genève.

Christmas in December
2025-12-01 - 2026-01-04
Every evening, from December 1 to 23 at 7:00 pm, we open the door of an Advent cabin to discover the world of an artist on the theme “Sauvage”, in a festive musical atmosphere, accompanied by mulled wine and fondue. The cabins remain on display until mid-January.
At 8:00 pm, Les Bains presents 25 shows under the yurt: music, cabaret, storytelling, clown shows, performances… there’s something for all tastes and ages. And because December isn’t enough, we’re extending the shows to January 4!
– See the full Christmas program in December –

Conte un Jean
2025-12-03 20:00 - 21:30
From the Big Bang to Big Data, via Big pharma, Neanderthal and his genes, science and Cern, Fomme and the future of Sapiens, a rat who recounts his escapade, Conte un Jean is a little of all this in one hour on stage.

Written and performed by Steven Matthews. Lighting by Cécilia Olivieri.

Poetic aperitif
2025-12-06 11:00 - 12:00
Martine Ruchat, accompanied by Lorette Andersen.
An exchange of letters between Romain Rolland and Helena de Kay, the source of Martine Ruchat’s story Sensations océaniques, published by Encre Fraîche, read by the author and storyteller Lorette Andersen.

A researcher and university lecturer in the history of education, Martine Ruchat has also published biographical accounts since 2008, including Marc Solon, enfant placé, voleur de métier (Marc Solon, a foster child and thief by trade ), published by Antipodes, which was the subject of a Solon comic strip by Elisabeth Voyame in 2021. He was followed by La passions selon Charles-Henri Rapin, also published by Antipodes, Edouard Claparède. The purpose of education . Then, Élisabeth H. Une femme comme les autres (Slatkine) and Sensations océaniques en 2024 (Encre Fraîche). She edited No. 25 of the Revue d’histoire de l’enfance (now L’Irrégulière), “Professionnelles de l’enfance. Portraits croisés” in 2023, published by Anamosa, Paris.

Lorette Andersen, a Franco-Swiss storyteller, has practiced́ various trades: ethnologist, actress, worker, teacher of French for foreigners, early childhood educator, schoolteacher, writing workshop leader. All the threads of her diverse career paths have helped her weave her storytelling word. Eclectic by taste, she is as interested in contemporary legend as she is in marvellous tales or stories from faraway lands. Her first repertoire was the tales of French-speaking Switzerland.
A professional storyteller since 1993, she divides her time between performances and training courses in the art of storytelling and writing. She performs in theaters, cultural centers, libraries, hospitals and schools.
