Balance sheet of the "Esaf" in Zug

Sun, sawdust and sweat: The Federal Alpine Wrestling and Alpine Festival (Esaf: Eidgenössiche Schwing- und Älplerfest) in Zug was one of the biggest sporting events of the year. The 420,000 visitors to the festival showed that events of this magnitude can run peacefully. From 23^rd to 25^th August, Alpine wrestling fans turned Zug into a peaceful party town. Just over 100 days later, the Organising Committee (OC), led by President and Councillor Heinz Tännler, presented the first figures on Friday.

The final and official final report with all the figures will be presented by the Zug OC at the Delegate Assembly of the Swiss Federal Alpine Wrestling Association in mid-March in Pratteln, which is the venue for the Esaf 2022. OK President Heinz Tännler sees the latest projected figures as positive, and assures us that: "These figures are very accurate." For him, the "Schwingfest" was in every respect a huge success for the sport, as well as for the Canton of Zug. " The positive result is also reflected in the financial compensation paid for the helper hours. The goal of the OC was to pay the voluntary helpers, called ‘Chrampfer’, a wage of CHF 8 per hour. This amount has now been doubled: with 85,000 hours of help, this amounts to CHF 1.4 million. This is the highest sum ever paid to the Chrampfer in the history of the Swiss Confederation. "The fact that we can pay out CHF 16 per hour is fantastic. The helpers did a great job," sums up Heinz Tännler.

This doubling is possible because the organisers expect an operating profit of around CHF 3.2 million. After the payment of all the helper hours, there still remains around CHF 1.85 million in the pot. Of this, CHF 1 million will flow into a newly-founded foundation that supports projects from the Canton of Zug. It should last for about five years. Each year, around CHF 200,000 will support projects in four areas - sports, culture, health and social affairs. "We want to use the capital to return something to the people of Zug. The city, the canton and the municipalities will be the beneficiaries”, explains Tännler. The selection of projects is therefore coordinated with the public sector, which will make suggestions to the foundation as to where the money could be used.

The remaining CHF 850,000 will flow back to the Alpine Wrestling (Schwingen) sport, according to the OC President: The cantonal association and the four Alpine Wrestling clubs in the canton of Zug (Schwingclub Ägerital, Zug-Umgebung, Oberwil-Zug and Cham-Ennetsee) will be equally supported. Paul Bachmann, President of the Sponsoring association for Esaf 2019, is pleased about the amount of the award: "We didn’t expect it to be that much." The CHF 850,000 will mainly be used for the promotion of junior sportsmen and women. "Each schwing club is, of course, free to decide how they want to use the money," explains Bachmann.

The atmosphere in and around the stadium was consistently peaceful.

Tännler attributes the good result to three success factors: the luck of having good weather, the number of visitors and the conscientious budget planning. "We geared our budget to a worst-case scenario, the bad-weather variant," admits Tännler. More than 100,000 visitors had already come to Zug on Friday. "The total of 420,000 visitors exceeded all expectations," says Tännler. The concept of travelling by public transport was also raised: more than 90 percent followed this appeal, while the 6,500 parking spaces were only used on average by 20 percent. The festival also ran without any major incidents. According to the OC, the first aid teams mostly had to take care of patients with insect bites, abrasions and cuts.

The organisers are also convinced that they fulfilled their goals with regard to sustainability and the environment. The sawdust was re-used for conservation projects in the canton, for example, and the advertising panels were processed into shopping bags by the GGZ (social employment organisation). The Schwingfest in Zug was also planned to be the first climate-neutral one. "We will reach the goal," asserted Tännler. The OK does not yet know how high the CO₂ emissions were. Around CHF 300,000 will probably flow into the sustainability fund. More precise figures will be available when the sustainability report is issued, which is expected in February.

Esaf CEO Thomas Huwyler summarises the festival from the point of view of the figures:

264,800 litres of beer, 36,900 litres of cider or apple juice, 120,300 litres of mineral water and 127,000 litres of soft drinks were consumed. In addition, 125,000 coffees, 5,400 litres of schnapps and 28,100 litres of wine were served.

Huwyler compares the figures with those of Esaf 2016 in Estavayer: "The average consumption in Zug is lower everywhere, except for wine, of which we consumed more in Zug." The figures do not include drinks served by the seven restaurants on the grounds and on the campsite - these were not managed by the OC. Visitors obtained the money for wine and mineral water at the three Bancomat towers: a total of 18,300 transactions worth CHF 3.5 million were carried out over the three days. The Chrampfer team disposed of a total of 165.8 tons of waste.

The overall conclusion of the OC President is positive: "We did everything right."