Grandes Orgues midnight concert

As is tradition in Lausanne, New Year’s Eve celebrations centre around the cathedral – Switzerland’s largest – whose belfry will be lit up at midnight. Earlier in the evening, catch the torchlight procession that leaves Place de la Palud at 10pm for the Esplanade. From 10.45pm revellers can join organist Jean-Christophe Geiser for a concert showcasing the cathedral’s organ, an impressive instrument inaugurated a decade ago at a costs of six million francs. Usually hugely popular, the event used to be free but is now ticketed to ensure things run in typically orderly fashion.