Vevey is a town in Switzerland in the canton Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva., not far from Lausanne. It was historically known as Viviscus. It was mentioned for the first time by the ancient Greek astronomer and philosopher Ptolemy, who gave it the name Ouikos.
It is the seat of the district of the same name. It is part of the French-speaking area of Switzerland.
It is bordered on the west by the River Veveyse and to the east by the River Oyonnaz.
Vevey is the site of the world headquarters (but not fiscal HQ) of the food giant Nestlé, founded here in 1867.
Some of the notable people who lived in Vevey have been:
The Confrérie des Vignerons (Brotherhood of Winegrowers) organises the Winegrowers' Festival (Fête des Vignerons) four or five times each century (one per generation) to celebrate its wine-growing traditions and culture. On those occasions an arena for 16,000 spectators is built in the marketplace — the Grande Place, which is the second-biggest marketplace in Europe, after Lisbon, Portugal).
The festivals date from the 18th century; the last five were in 1905, 1927, 1955, 1977 and 1999.
