Chästeilet Wengen: Two Days of Alpine Cheese and Folklore
The Chästeilet returns to Wengen on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September 2026, marking the close of the Alpine summer with the ceremonial sharing of the season's cheese. Held at the village ice rink since 1999, it is one of the most rooted events in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, drawing locals, mountain farmers and visitors for two days of food, music and tradition.
What Chästeilet means
Each summer the dairy cows graze on the high pastures above Wengen, and the cheese they produce belongs collectively to the farmers and "Kuhrechte" (cow share) holders who looked after them. The Chästeilet is the ceremony where that cheese is divided up and handed back to its owners. Wheels weigh anywhere from 5 to 30 kilograms, and the morning queue to collect them is part of the show.
Saturday evening: BBQ and live music
From 18:00 the kitchen at the ice rink opens for a hearty grill dinner. Live music starts at 20:00 with bar service running through the evening. It is a warm, informal start to the weekend, more village than festival.
Sunday programme
From 10:00 the cheese dividend distribution begins. Through the day there is folklore music, alphorn ensembles, a Swiss flag-throwing display, traditional costume groups and "Steinstossen" (stone throwing), the highland strongman discipline. A small gourmet market lines the rink with regional producers, and the festival restaurant serves alpine classics including raclette, Älplermagronen and fresh mountain cheese.
Plan your stay
The ice rink is a five-minute walk from Victoria Lauberhorn, so guests can come down for an hour or stay through the day. The Wengernalp Railway makes day trips up to Kleine Scheidegg straightforward if you want to fold the festival into a wider weekend. Mid-September brings cool, clear weather and the first dustings of snow on the Jungfrau, so pack a layer.
Late September is one of the quietest, most local windows of the Wengen calendar. Come and stay with us at Victoria Lauberhorn, a Faern collection resort, for a weekend that ends the summer the way the village has done it for nearly thirty years.
Book your stay at Victoria Lauberhorn for Chästeilet weekend.