text:
Formentera

Formentera is a Spanish island located in the Mediterranean Sea, which belongs to the Balearic Islands autonomous community (Spain) together with Mallorca, Menorca, and Ibiza.

Formentera is the smallest and most southerly island of the Pityusic Islands group (comprising Ibiza and Formentera itself, as well as various small islets). It covers an area of 83.24 km2, including offshore islets. At the 2011 Census, the population was 10,583; according to the Census of 1 January 2021, it counted 11,891 inhabitants, while the official estimate as at 1 January 2023 was 11,389.

History
The island's name is said to derive from the Latin word frumentarium, meaning "granary". The island was occupied in prehistoric times, going back to 2,000–1,600 BC. Archaeological sites from that period remain in Ca na Costa, Cap de Barbaria (multiple sites) and Cova des Fum. The island had been occupied by the Carthaginians before passing to the ancient Romans. In succeeding centuries, it passed to the Visigoths, the Byzantines, the Vandals, and the Arabs. In 1109, Formentera was the target of a devastating attack by the Norwegian king Sigurd I at the head of the Norwegian Crusade. The island was conquered by James I the Conqueror, added to the Crown of Aragon and later became part of the medieval Kingdom of Majorca.

From 1403 to the early 18th century, the threat of Barbary pirate attacks rendered the island uninhabitable. On 17 June 1651, during the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659), a squadron of Spanish galleys under John of Austria the Younger captured the French galleon Lion Couronné off this island.

The island and its surrounding islets became a separate insular council with the same territory as the eponymous municipality after 1977. Before that, it was administered in the former insular council of Ibiza and Formentera (covering the whole group of the Pityusic Islands), but in a separate comarca which already covered the current municipality of Formentera. This reform allowed Ibiza to unify its comarca of five municipalities with its new insular council, no longer administrating Formentera.

Geography

The main island of Formentera is 19 km long and is located about 6 km south of Ibiza in the Mediterranean Sea. More specifically Formentera is part of the delimitation of the Balearic Sea, which is a northwestern element of the Mediterranean Sea. Its major villages are Sant Francesc Xavier, Sant Ferran de ses Roques, El Pilar de la Mola (on the La Mola peninsula), La Savina, and Es Pujols, the most important tourist destination of the island.

Formentera comprises one municipality, also called Formentera, and has a population of 11,981 (as of 1 January 2021). Its land area is 83.24 km2. It is subdivided into several civil parishes (parròquies), themselves subdivided into vendas (véndes in Catalan).

North of Formentera is located Espalmador (in Catalan: Illa de S'Espalmador), the second largest island of the Pitiusas Islands, surrounded by a few minor islets.

Espalmador is a tombolo, separated from the main island of Formentera by a shallow sandbar. This area is a popular stopping point for those in yachts heading between Ibiza and Formentera.

Climate
Formentera has a semi-arid climate with hot, very dry summers and warm, dry winters. The flat orography of the island means that rainfall is scarce and the temperature is quite uniform. The average annual rainfall is 370–420 mm. The average annual temperature is between 17 and 18 °C. Overall, the climate is mild, with an average annual temperature of 18.6 degrees Celsius and 2883 hours of annual sunshine on average.

Insular government
Elections are held every four years concurrently with local elections. From 1983 to 2007, councilors were indirectly elected from the results of the election to Parliament of the Balearic Islands for the constituencies of Ibiza and Formentera (then forming a single Island council, with Formentera sending a single councilor to both Parliament and the Island council). Since 2007, however, separate direct elections are held to elect the Island Council of Formentera, with currently 17 seats (it only sends a single one to the Balearic Parliament).

Results of the elections to the former Island Council of Ibiza and Formentera
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:97%;" ! colspan="4" | Island Councilors of the Island Council of Ibiza and Formentera between 1978 and 2007
 * - bgcolor="#CCCCCC"
 * colspan="4" |
 * colspan="4" |

{{legend||EVIB|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}} {{legend||COP|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}} {{legend||Pacte|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}} {{legend||PSIB–PSOE|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}} {{legend|#2A52BE|FIEF|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}} {{legend||CDS|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}} {{legend||PDL|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}} {{legend||UCD|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}} {{legend||AIPF|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}} {{legend||PP|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}} {{legend||ICIF–CD|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}} {{legend||CP|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}} {{legend||AP–PL|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}

! Election ! Distribution ! colspan="2"|President
 * - bgcolor="#CCCCCC"
 * align=center|1979
 * rowspan="2" | Cosme Vidal Juan (ICIF–CD, CP)
 * style="background:;"|
 * align=center|1983
 * style="background:;"|
 * align=center|1987
 * rowspan="3" | Antoni Marí (PP)
 * rowspan="3" style="background:;"|
 * align=center|1991
 * align=center|1995
 * align=center|1999
 * Pilar Costa (Pacte Progressista)
 * style="background:;"|
 * align=center|2003
 * align=center|1991
 * align=center|1995
 * align=center|1999
 * Pilar Costa (Pacte Progressista)
 * style="background:;"|
 * align=center|2003
 * align=center|1999
 * Pilar Costa (Pacte Progressista)
 * style="background:;"|
 * align=center|2003
 * style="background:;"|
 * align=center|2003
 * align=center|2003

 * Pere Palau (PP)
 * style="background:;"|
 * colspan="4" style="background:#EEEEEE; text-align:center;"| Split into the Island Councils of Ibiza and Formentera respectively, with the 2007 Amendment of the Statue of Autonomy coming into effect.
 * }
 * }

Attractions
Since the 1960s, Formentera has been a popular destination for hippies. Formentera is renowned across Europe for many pristine white beaches and the fact that nude sunbathing is allowed on most of its beaches.

Throughout its history, Formentera has been the subject of many legends, written in novels by famous writers such as Jules Verne, and in songs by musicians as varied as Gilberto Gil and Pink Floyd. From this artistic curiosity, the annual Formentera Jazz Festival has been held annually in early June and features many emerging and established musicians from the local and international scene.

The Canadian writer Patrick Roscoe was born in Formentera. Joni Mitchell wrote her 1971 album Blue on the island while Bob Dylan once slept on the Far de la Mola on the island. Author Matt Haig also writes about visiting the island often in his twenties in Reasons to Stay Alive. The opening track of the King Crimson album Islands, Formentera Lady, is named after the island. James Taylor also worked on his hit song Carolina in My Mind on holiday from recording with Apple Records, though he began writing it in London and completed it on the nearby island of Ibiza.

The Cap de Barbaria Lighthouse plays a pivotal role in Julio Medem's 2001 Spanish film, Sex and Lucia (Lucía y el sexo), which was filmed on the island and served as a touchstone for the various characters' interwoven relationships.

Although paved roads allow access to all parts of the island and cars are easily hired in the port, many people choose to rent mopeds or even bicycles due to the flat nature of most of the island and the availability of dedicated cycle tracks in many locations.

The island also has four Martello towers.

Transport
With no airports, the island was formerly reachable only by boat from Ibiza, making it the quieter of the two islands, but in recent years regular passenger service from the Spanish mainland has increased tourism.

Ferry tickets from Ibiza are available in advance, as are transfers from Ibiza airport or port directly to accommodation in Formentera.

Ferries to Formentera operate from their own terminal in Ibiza port, with departures every half hour in high season on large (200+ passenger) fast catamarans. The journey takes approximately 30 minutes comprising 10 minutes leaving Ibiza, 10 minutes crossing the sea, and 10 minutes arriving in Formentera past the isthmus to Espalmador.

Some of the anchorages may not be suitable for sailboats under less than ideal circumstances.

Culture
A local Ibizan (eivissenc) variant of the Balearic dialect of the Catalan language is spoken in Formentera. While the official languages are Catalan and Spanish, other major languages like English, Italian, German, French and Dutch can also be heard extensively in the summer due to mass tourism.

Sports
From 1 September to 7 September, Formentera hosted the 2007 Techno 293 OD World Championships in windsurfing for juniors under 15 and youths under 17.

Villages

 * Es Mal Pas

title: Formentera


text:
Tapiola

Tapiola is a district of the municipality of Espoo on the south coast of Finland, and is one of the major urban centres of Espoo. It is located in the western part of Helsinki capital region. The name Tapiola is derived from Tapio, who is the forest god of Finnish mythology, especially as expressed in the Kalevala.

Tapiola was largely constructed in the 1950s and 1960s by the Finnish housing foundation and was designed as a garden city. It is the location of the Espoo cultural centre, the Espoo Museum of Modern Art (EMMA), the Espoo city museum, and the Espoo City Theatre.

According to the Finnish National Board of Antiquities, Tapiola was the largest and most valuable example of the 1960s construction ideologies in Finland. Its architecture and landscaping that combine urban living with nature have attracted tourists ever since.

History
After the Continuation War had ended in 1944 the entire country of Finland suffered from shortage of housing. In the Moscow Armistice, Finland had been forced to cede all the areas it had conquered back from the Soviet Union back to the Soviet Union, which meant that the evacuees from Finnish Karelia had to be settled in areas still remaining in Finland, among the existing population. Already during the Continuation War, the Finnish Family Federation had decided that action had to be taken to relieve the shortage of housing.

Tapiola was one of the first post-war "new town" projects in Continental Europe. It was created by a private non-profit enterprise called Asuntosäätiö (the Housing Foundation), which was established in 1951 by six social trade organisations including the Confederation of Finnish Trade Unions, the Central Organisation of Tenants, the Mannerheim Child Welfare Federation, the Finnish Federation of Civilian and Military Invalids and the Civil Servants' Federation.

The project was conceived, built and managed by Heikki von Hertzen, the executive of the Asuntosäätiö and garden city advocate. Von Hertzen was a lawyer, who had worked as a branch manager for a bank in Tampere before becoming the director of the Finnish Family Federation.

Under von Hertzen's leadership, the Housing Foundation bought 660 acres of forest land, six miles from the centre of Helsinki, and set out to create an ideal garden city. The role of the Housing Foundation included financing the project and overseeing the planning and building process so as to ensure consistency within different areas of the town. The Housing Foundation's unique combination of various socio-political organisations facilitated the negotiation of funds with governmental bodies. Von Hertzen set out to create a modern urban environment that would address the housing shortage in Helsinki and would be both economically viable and beautiful. Tapiola did not form part of any wider plan for Finland’s development other than von Hertzen's Seven Towns Plan, a response to urban sprawl in Helsinki.

In 1946 von Hertzen explained his thoughts about urban planning in his pamphlet Koti vaiko kasarmi lapsillemme ("A home or a barracks for our children?"), where he strongly criticised the cramped and gloomy closed city blocks of Helsinki and defended the importance of nature in a built environment. This idea of a garden city movement was inspired by the garden design principles of the British Ebenezer Howard. New residential areas in Sweden also served as inspiration for Tapiola.

The original city plans for Tapiola were made by Otto-Iivari Meurman. Later, the Housing Foundation made significant changes to the plans, and handed planning of Tapiola over to a group of prominent Finnish architects, including Aarne Ervi, Alvar Aalto, and Kaija Siren. Each member of the group designed their own part of the area and its buildings, including social housing blocks (80% of all dwellings) and individual houses.

The planners of Tapiola were convinced that no one professional group could solve the manifold problems of modern community planning; planning has to be highly skilled and strictly directed teamwork at all levels. Tapiola is a result of close teamwork in the fields of architecture, sociology, civil engineering, landscape gardening, domestic science, and youth welfare.

The name of the garden city itself was chosen through a public competition in 1953. The winning name was suggested by eleven different people, which in Finnish means the home of the Tapio, the forest god from The Kalevala. The prominent difference between the Finnish and Swedish names is explained by different etymologies. The Swedish name Hagalund comes from the Hagalund manor, whose lands originally included the site of present-day Tapiola, even though the main building of the manor is actually located in nearby Otaniemi, separated from Tapiola by the Kehä I beltway. The original northernmost part of Tapiola was separated to its own district called Pohjois-Tapiola ("Northern Tapiola").

Tapiola is also the cultural centre of Espoo, as it houses the Espoo cultural centre (home of the Tapiola Sinfonietta), the city museum (in the WeeGee house), and the Espoo City Theatre. The Tapiola library is located in the cultural centre.

Urban planning
Tapiola brought worldwide fame for Finnish urban planning. From its first stages it gained both a national and international reputation for its high class architecture and landscaping, as well as an ideological experiment. Tapiola's planners aimed at demonstrating a new direction for Finnish town planning and housing. The aim of the Housing Foundation was to create a garden city which would be a microcosm of Finnish society: all social classes would live there and there would be different types of buildings, ranging from detached houses to terraced and multi-storey blocks. The slogan of the project was: "we do not want to build houses or dwellings but socially healthful surroundings for contemporary man and his family". Tapiola provided a utopian vision of society and an alternative to what was seen at the time as an oppressive urban environment. In this sense, Tapiola was both an experiment and a model.

Tapiola was built on the principles of Ebenezer Howard's garden city. The founder of Tapiola, Heikki von Hertzen, believed that it was not possible to create a satisfactory residential centre if the population density exceeds a certain figure. Hertzen's vision for Tapiola, which was originally planned for an area of 600 acres, was to have only 26 residents per acre, and a total of 15,000 people. The ground was divided into four neighbourhood units, separated by green belts, and in the middle was built a main shopping and cultural centre to meet the needs of 30,000 inhabitants (including those of surrounding districts) (Hertzen 1959). An important feature of the Tapiola and garden cities is the development of a self-contained community. This meant that as many jobs as possible had to be provided – as many as could be at a distance of less than 10 km from Helsinki.

The architects commissioned to plan Tapiola had also been influenced by Le Corbusier and other propagandists of Modernism, and thus their urban ideals also included tower blocks forming impressive silhouettes, as well as a dense method of building. The various residential units which made up Tapiola comprise multi-storey blocks and individual homes, either detached or in rows, introducing a note of variety in the neighbourhood and allowing for the mixing of residents. Combining the architecture of modernism and the ideology of the garden city movement is credited for the huge interest in Tapiola's planning history.

The main planning features on which Tapiola was built, as synthesised from Von Hertzen's writings, are summarised below:
 * The starting point of planning is the individuality of man and closeness to nature, and the aesthetic value of nature and use of natural contours of the landscape are retained wherever possible.
 * Nature dominates, architecture is secondary. All buildings must harmonise with the natural setting.
 * To be a working town, not a dormitory or nursery, providing as many jobs as possible to its inhabitants.
 * The town should provide for a range of income levels – "a community of everyman, where the ordinary worker, successful businessman and university professor can live side-by-side".
 * Consistent placing of multi-story buildings with alternatively low housing, resulting in a feeling of spaciousness and variety.

Neighbourhoods
The development of Tapiola occurred in several stages: the eastern neighbourhood 1952 – 1956, the western neighbourhood, 1957-1960, the town centre 1958-1961-1970, the northern neighbourhood 1958-1967, the southern neighbourhood 1961-1965. Planning in Tapiola commenced with architect, Otto-Iivari Meurman's site plan and building schedule which were reviewed from 1951 onwards. His original plan detailed four neighbourhoods split by two crossing roads and set apart by green belts.

Architects Aarne Ervi, Viljo Revell, Aulis Blomstedt and Markus Tavio were charged with designing the eastern neighbourhood based on Meurman's plan. They were required to design buildings suited to the surrounding environment and the topography of the area.

A housing team was created to appraise the architects' housing designs; this process occurred more frequently during the development of the eastern neighbourhood. Team members were from a wide range of fields and included a building engineer, a heating engineer, two independent architects, an electrical engineer, a landscape gardener, a domestic science expert, a child welfare expert, a sociologist, and a housewife. This unique team, coupled with the board of the Housing Foundation, assessed housing designs, taking into consideration the needs and desires of future residents from a diverse range of backgrounds. The parties had different beliefs and values, which sometimes led to disagreements, for example the Housing Foundation was concerned with economising whilst the home-economics experts were chiefly concerned with the needs of families. Thus planning in Tapiola was collaborative and proactive as it involved targeting specific family types and classes, deciding on an ideal lifestyle for these residents, which accordingly influenced their behaviours. Many dwellings were designed to house a specific family-type and lifestyle. For example, it was perceived to be ideal to have families with children reside in dwellings, at or close to ground level in order for the children to have better access to the outdoors and to parks, whilst a tower block with one-room flats was designed to accommodate childless couples.

Meurman resigned from the board of governors of the Housing Foundation in 1954 following a shift from developing a town with low population density (six persons per acre) and low-rise buildings dwellings, as advocated by Meurman, to more multi-storey buildings and a higher population density (30 persons per acre) as recommended by other architects and the Housing Foundation. This shift was prompted by the need to accommodate a larger population, triggered by the housing shortage in Finland. Ervi took up Meurman’s position as master planner.

The development of the eastern neighbourhood led to the implementation of important planning principles such as providing facilities that encourage interaction and foster a sense of community as well as the separation of vehicles and pedestrians. It was also deemed necessary to have a mixture of building types located within the one area to encourage social diversification. The eastern and western residential areas of Tapiola featured curved streets of varying sizes and positions, whilst the northern neighbourhood designed by architect Pentti Ahola, marked a return to the orthogonal grid plan. Ahola's design however, reflected the original aims of Tapiola; that of encouraging social diversification by locating a variety of building types within the one area. Financial concerns affected the development of the western area of Tapiola, leading to the construction of housing units that were economically feasible.

In 1953 Aarne Ervi was awarded the commission to plan the town centre. The aim of the town centre's design was to provide all the facilities necessary for a modern urban centre and to maximise social interaction. The centre included a market square, public square, church, public premises, businesses and an administration building. As with the other areas of Tapiola, the centre was designed with consideration for the site's features and terrain as well as to provide an active and versatile environment for pedestrians. Roads surrounded the central area producing a modern design completely separate from vehicles and featuring a special route for pedestrians and cyclists only (Tapionraitti). Ervi ensured the centre preserved the garden-city character of Tapiola by locating the buildings around an artificial lake, however this plan was considered strange and criticised for its lack of density. The centre was later expanded with a pedestrian based shopping centre linked to the Tapionraitti, notable for its undercover, outdoor pathways. Later developments showed less consideration for the natural surroundings, though most developments respected the dominance of the existing buildings. Tapiola's centre did not expand to such an extent as to rival Helsinki.

Services
Finland's first shopping centre, Heikintori, was opened in Tapiola in 1968. The Tapiola centre has a large selection of services: a department store (Stockmann), a book store (Akateeminen Kirjakauppa), groceries (K-Supermarket, Food Market Herkku), Alko, a post office, banks (Nordea, Danske Bank, Aktia, Osuuspankki, Ålandsbanken, Handelsbanken and Nooa Säästöpankki), photography stores, barber's shops, and other small businesses. Public services include the Tapiola health centre, a library, an employment bureau.

Public transportation
Public transport in Tapiola consists of buses and the metro maintained by the Helsinki Regional Transport Authority. The Tapiola metro station, a station of the Helsinki Metro, opened as a part of Länsimetro (the Western Metro Extension) in November 2017.

Sports services
The Tapiola centre houses a swimming pool and the Tapiola bowling alley. Near the centre is also the Tapiola tennis park. In the Tuulimäki defense shelter there are premises for wrestling, judo, shooting (air guns and archery), table tennis, gymnastics and fencing. There is also a boxing ring in connection to the Tuulimäki gymnasium. In western Tapiola there is the Tapiola sports park, housing the ice hockey rink, skating rink and the tennis centre. The name Tapiola comes from a competition held by the apartment foundation. The lands originally belonged to the Hagalund mansion.

Buildings
In the centre of Tapiola, next to the central pool, there is the Tapiola Garden hotel, designed by Aarne Ervi. In autumn 2005, the highest wooden office building in Europe, called the Modular-office, was built in southern Tapiola by next to the Länsiväylä highway. The building is operated by Finnforest.

Tapiola is also the name of a Finnish insurance company, presumably from the location of its headquarters. Among other major companies headquartered in Tapiola are Huhtamäki and M-real.

In Otsolahti in eastern Tapiola, there is a small boat harbour for motor boats.

The Itäkartano area east of the Tapiola centre is famous for its apartment buildings built in the 1950s, visited by architects from all around the world. The Itäkartano centre operated as the centre of the whole district of Tapiola before the current central area was built. Remnants of this central role include Tapiola's cinema, Kino Tapiola, by the Mäntyviita street, and office apartments. The area belongs to the Finnish museum bureau's list of significant cultural environments. The highest, oldest, and most significant building in the area is the white, 11-storey Mäntytorni building.

To the north of Tapiola centre is a central park, Silkkiniitty, a large grass field reaching to Pohjois-Tapiola. It is popular among sportspeople and sunbathers.

According to the Finnish museum bureau, Tapiola is a unique phenomenon in the world. According to the bureau, new proposed changes to the city planning threaten the existence of this cultural heritage.

The WeeGee house, designed by architect Aarno Ruusuvuori and completed in 1964, is the former printing house of the Weilin+Göös publishing house. It currently hosts the Espoo Museum of Modern Art (EMMA), the Espoo City Museum, the Helinä Rautavaara Museum, the Finnish Museum of Horology, the Finnish Toy Museum, Galleria AARNI, and other cultural institutions.

Tapiola has its own metro station, the Tapiola metro station. The station was opened in November 2017.

Controversies
The founder of the Garden City Tapiola, Heikki von Hertzen, considered suing the insurance company Tapiola in 1981 for stealing the trade name of Tapiola. The Garden City had used substantial resources in advertisement.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Tapiola


text:
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Mezinárodní filmový festival Karlovy Vary, KVIFF) is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become Central and Eastern Europe's leading film event.

History
The pre-war dream of many enthusiastic filmmakers materialized in 1946 when a non-competition festival of films from seven countries took place in Mariánské Lázně and Karlovy Vary. Above all it was intended to screen the results of the recently nationalized Czechoslovak film industry. After the first two years the festival moved permanently to Karlovy Vary.

The Karlovy Vary IFF first held an international film competition in 1948. Since 1951, an international jury has evaluated the films. The Karlovy Vary competition quickly found a place among other developing festivals and by 1956 FIAPF had already classified Karlovy Vary as a category A festival. Given the creation of the Moscow Film Festival and the political decision to organize only one "A" festival for all socialist countries, Karlovy Vary was forced to alternate year by year with Moscow IFF between 1959 and 1993.

The social and political changes that took place after the Velvet Revolution in November 1989 pushed concerns about organizing the Karlovy Vary IFF to the background. The program for 1990 was saved by the release of a collection of Czechoslovak films that had been locked up for years in a storage vault. And the appearance of a number of international guests such as Miloš Forman, Lindsay Anderson, Annette Bening and Robert De Niro helped as well. Future festivals were in doubt. Financial problems and a lack of interest on the part of the government, organizers and viewers almost ended the festival's long tradition in 1992.

In 1994, the 29th Karlovy Vary IFF inaugurated an entirely new tradition. After nearly forty years of alternating with the Moscow IFF, the festival began once again to take place every year. The Karlovy Vary Film Festival Foundation was set up in 1993 co-created by the Ministry of Culture, The City of Karlovy Vary, and the Grand Hotel Pupp. Actor Jiří Bartoška was invited to be the festival's president, and Eva Zaoralová became program director in 1995. Since 1998, the organization of the festival has been carried out by Film Servis Festival Karlovy Vary, a joint stock company.

The 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic; a shortened event was later scheduled for 18–21 November, which will not be counted as an official edition of the festival (being promoted as the 54th and-a-half edition). Due to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War, portions of the Odesa International Film Festival were hosted at KVIFF in July 2022.

Program
The main center of the festival is Hotel Thermal. The core of the program is the feature film competition; in accordance with FIAPF regulations only those films which have not been shown in competition at any other international festivals can be included. The documentary competition is an important festival event. The extensive informative program features both distribution pre-premiers and films awarded at other festivals. But it also includes discoveries of artistic creations by independent directors, productions coming out of little known film industries, retrospectives, and an overview of Czech film output during the past year. For the tenth straight year the festival will present Variety Critics' Choice: new and interesting films of mainly European production selected by critics working at this prestigious magazine.

Seminars focusing primarily on European film are another important part of the festival.

Thousands of visitors and the great variety of films testify to the effectiveness of the program team with program director Eva Zaoralová at its head. Due to their valiant efforts many films will be purchased at the festival for wider distribution or, thanks to receiving a festival award, will attract the attention of major producers, distributors, and the media.

The festival program has the following sections:
 * Official Selection — Competition – films never before shown in competition at any other international festival.
 * East of the West — Competition – films from the former socialist bloc.
 * Documentary Films — Competition – a competition divided into two parts: documentaries less than and longer than 30 minutes.
 * Horizons and Another View – a selection of the most remarkable contemporary films.
 * Imagina — films with an unconventional approach to narration and style, distinctive and radical visions of film language.
 * Out of the Past — classic, cult, rare and unfairly overlooked films, screened in their original and restored versions.
 * Future Frames: Generation NEXT of European Cinema — ten directors, an upcoming generation of young European filmmakers, present their student films. The project is organized in cooperation with European Film Promotion.
 * Midnight Screenings — a selection of the latest horror and action films, works that look at their genres in new, often humorous, ways.
 * Czech Films – a representative selection of current Czech films.
 * KVIFF Eastern Promises Industry Days — the industry section of the festival that includes Works in Development, First Cut+ and Works in Progress project presentations. The winners in these categories receive a $5000 prize.
 * Tributes, special focuses and retrospectives.

Awards
Since 1948, the Grand Prize has been the Crystal Globe – although its form has often changed. As of the 35th Karlovy Vary IFF 2000 the Crystal Globe has taken on a new look: now the figure of a woman stands raising a crystal ball (artistic concept developed by Tono Stano, Aleš Najbrt, Michal Caban, and Šimon Caban).

The Feature Film Competition is divided into the following main awards:
 * Grand Prix – Crystal Globe for best feature film ($25,000)
 * Special Jury Prize ($15,000)
 * Best Director Award
 * Best Actress Award
 * Best Actor Award

The Documentary Competition is divided into the following main awards:
 * Best Documentary Film in the category for film lasting 30 minutes or less
 * Best Documentary Film in the category for film lasting above 30 minutes in length

Each year, the festival also presents the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Contribution to World Cinema.

Prominent foreign guests

 * 1946: Nikolay Cherkasov, Lyubov Orlova, Rita Hayworth
 * 1956: Dev Anand, Luis Buñuel, Alberto Cavalcanti
 * 1960: Waltraut Haas, Irina Skobtseva, Irina Petrescu, Mari Törőcsik
 * 1962: Shirley MacLaine, Frank Capra, Bernard Blier
 * 1964: Claudia Cardinale, Henry Fonda, Richard Attenborough
 * 1966: Olga Schoberová, Brad Harris, Ján Kadár
 * 1968: Tony Curtis, Pierre Brice, Raf Vallone
 * 1970: Ken Loach
 * 1972: Daniil Khrabrovitsky
 * 1974: Andrei Konchalovsky
 * 1976: Humberto Solás
 * 1978: Stanislav Rostotsky
 * 1980: Günther Rücker
 * 1982: Franco Nero, Sergei Bondarchuk
 * 1984: Monica Vitti, Sergei Gerasimov
 * 1986: Giulietta Masina
 * 1988: Bernardo Bertolucci, Xie Jin
 * 1990: Miloš Forman, Robert De Niro, Annette Bening, Maximilian Schell, Shirley Temple
 * 1992: Coen brothers, Jason Connery, Aki Kaurismäki, Ken Loach, Agnieszka Holland
 * 1994: Leonardo DiCaprio, Max von Sydow, Philippe Noiret
 * 1995: Peter O'Toole, Fridrik Thór Fridriksson, Mia Farrow, Mika Kaurismäki, Gina Lollobrigida
 * 1996: Alan Alda, Whoopi Goldberg, Gregory Peck, Ivan Passer, Pierre Richard, Frank Langella
 * 1997: Miloš Forman, Salma Hayek, Ivan Passer, Nikita Mikhalkov, Steve Buscemi
 * 1998: Michael Douglas, Ornella Muti, Saul Zaentz, Terry Jones
 * 1999: Woody Harrelson, Lukas Moodysson, Nikita Mikhalkov
 * 2000: Woody Harrelson, Edward Norton, Fridrik Thór Fridriksson, Eli Wallach, Heather Graham, Alicia Silverstone
 * 2001: Scarlett Johansson, Nastassja Kinski, Oleg Taktarov, Thora Birch
 * 2002: Kim Ki-duk, Keira Knightley, István Szabó, Michael York
 * 2003: Morgan Freeman, William Forsythe, Kim Ki-duk, Udo Kier, Zlatko Topčić
 * 2004: Elijah Wood, Roman Polanski, Jacqueline Bisset, John Cleese, Bernard Hill, Harvey Keitel, Albert Maysles
 * 2005: Sharon Stone, Robert Redford, Alexander Payne, Gael García Bernal, Liv Ullmann, Matt Dillon, Catherine Deneuve
 * 2006: Andy García, Terry Gilliam, Kim Ki-duk, Danny Trejo
 * 2007: Renée Zellweger, Danny DeVito, Elliot Page, Tom DiCillo, Cybill Shepherd
 * 2008: Robert De Niro, Les Blank, Kim Bodnia, Saffron Burrows, Danny Glover, John Sayles, Christopher Lee
 * 2009: Antonio Banderas, John Malkovich, Isabelle Huppert
 * 2010: Jude Law, Nikita Mikhalkov, Kevin McDonald, Scott Cooper, Zlatko Topčić, Adrian Grenier
 * 2011: John Malkovich, Judi Dench, John Turturro, Cary Fukunaga, Sasson Gabai, Remo Girone
 * 2012: Helen Mirren, Susan Sarandon, Richard Peña, István Szabó, Helena Třeštíková
 * 2013: John Travolta, Oliver Stone, F. Murray Abraham, Valeria Golino, Agnieszka Holland, Lou Castel, Jerry Schatzberg, Michel Gondry
 * 2014: Mel Gibson, Michael Pitt, Jake Hoffman, Franco Nero, Fanny Ardant, Laura Dern, Mike Cahill, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey
 * 2015: Richard Gere, Harvey Keitel, George A. Romero, Jamie Dornan, Sean Ellis, Jena Malone, Ryan Fleck, Udo Kier, Ben Mendelsohn, Alba Rohrwacher
 * 2016: Jean Reno, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Kaufman, Sergi López, Adriana Ugarte, Emma Suárez, Jamie Dornan, Toby Jones
 * 2017: Uma Thurman, Casey Affleck, Jeremy Renner, James Newton Howard, Ken Loach
 * 2018: Tim Robbins, Robert Pattinson, Terry Gilliam, Taika Waititi, Anna Paquin, Barry Levinson
 * 2019: Julianne Moore, Casey Affleck, Patricia Clarkson, Billy Crudup
 * 2021: Johnny Depp, Ethan Hawke, Michael Caine
 * 2022: Geoffrey Rush, Benicio del Toro, Liev Schreiber
 * 2023: Russell Crowe, Ewan McGregor, Alicia Vikander, Robin Wright, Patricia Clarkson, Michael Fassbender, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Christine Vachon
 * 2024: Clive Owen, Daniel Brühl, Steven Soderbergh, Viggo Mortensen

Crystal Globe Winners – Grand Prix

 * 2023 Blaga's Lessons (Bulgaria, Germany) – director Stephan Komandarev
 * 2022 Summer with Hope (Iran, Canada) – director Sadaf Foroughi
 * 2021 As Far as I Can Walk (Serbia) – director Stefan Arsenijević
 * 2019 The Father (Bulgaria, Greece) – directors Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov
 * 2018 I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians (Romania) – director Radu Jude
 * 2017 Little Crusader (Czech Republic) – director Václav Kadrnka
 * 2016 It's Not the Time of My Life (Hungary) – director Szabolcs Hajdu
 * 2015 Bob and the Trees (USA, France) – director Diego Ongaro
 * 2014 Corn Island (Georgia) – director Giorgi Ovashvili
 * 2013 The Notebook (Hungary) – director János Szász
 * 2012 The Almost Man (Norway) – director Martin Lund
 * 2011 Restoration (Israel) – director Yossi (Joseph) Madmoni
 * 2010 The Mosquito Net (Spain) – director Agustí Vila
 * 2009 Angel at Sea (Belgium/Canada) – director Frédéric Dumont
 * 2008 Terribly Happy (Denmark) – director Henrik Ruben Genz
 * 2007 Jar City (Iceland/Germany) – director Baltasar Kormákur
 * 2006 Sherrybaby (USA) – director Laurie Collyer
 * 2005 My Nikifor (Poland) – director Krzysztof Krauze
 * 2004 A Children's Story (Italy) – director Andrea Frazzi, Antonio Frazzi
 * 2003 Facing Windows (Italy, GB, Turkey, Portugal) – director Ferzan Özpetek
 * 2002 Year of The Devil (Czech Republic) – director Petr Zelenka
 * 2001 Amélie (France) – director Jean-Pierre Jeunet
 * 2000 Me You Them (Brazil) – director Andrucha Waddington
 * 1999 Yana's Friends (Israel) – director Arik Kaplun
 * 1998 Streetheart (Canada) – director Charles Binamé
 * 1997 Ma vie en rose (Belgium, France, GB) – director Alain Berliner
 * 1996 Prisoner of the Mountains (Russia, Kazakhstan) – director Sergej Bodrov
 * 1995 The Ride (Czech republic) – director Jan Svěrák
 * 1994 My Soul Brother (Spain) – director Mariano Barroso
 * for older winners (... 1946) see Crystal Globe.


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Vichy

Vichy (, ; Vichèi ) is a city in the Allier department in central France. Located on the Allier river, it is a major spa and resort town and during World War II was the capital of Vichy France. As of 2021, Vichy has a population of 25,789.

Known for its mineral springs since the Roman times, Vichy had become a major destination for the French nobility and the wealthy by the late 18th century. The town developed further under the patronage of Napoleon III. Following the 1940 armistice, the pro-German collaborationist government headed by Philippe Pétain set up at Vichy, which remained the de facto capital of the French rump state for the next four years. After the war, the city experienced a period of great prosperity but went into decline from the 1960s.

In 2021, the town became part of the transnational UNESCO World Heritage Site under the name "Great Spa Towns of Europe" because of its famous baths and its architectural testimony to the popularity of spa towns in Europe from the 18th through 20th centuries.

Name
Vichy is the French form of the Occitan name of the town, Vichèi, of uncertain etymology. Dauzat & al. have proposed that it derived from an unattested Latin name (Vippiacus) referencing the most important regional landowner (presumably a "Vippius") during the time of the Roman emperor Diocletian's administrative reorganizations and land surveys at the end of the 3rd century AD.

The name Vichy may be pronounced or  in either American or British English;  its usual French pronunciation is. The pronunciation of the Occitan name Vichèi is.

In French, the present-day demonym for a female resident or native of Vichy is Vichyssoise, f sg (Vichyssoises, f pl) and Vichyssois, m sg for a male, and Vichyssois m pl for a mixed group of both sexes. Until the 18th century, it was also common to use Vichois(e), which derived from the Occitan name of the town.

Geography and geology
Vichy lies on the banks of the river Allier. The source of the Allier is in the nearby Massif Central plateau which lies only a few miles to the south, near the region's capital, Clermont-Ferrand.

The historical existence of volcanic activity in the Massif Central is somewhat visually evident. Volcanic eruptions have happened for at least 150,000 years, but all volcanoes there have been dormant for at least 112 years. Volcanic activity in the area is the direct cause of the many thermal springs that exist in and around Vichy.

The famous mineral springs in Vichy are rich in trace elements such as lithium and fluorine, and high in sodium bicarbonate. The temperatures of the spring range from 73 degrees C at Antoine Spring to 14 degrees C at Lafayette Spring. In total, about 289 springs have been charted in Vichy and its surroundings. These springs are derived from infiltration through Oligocene-period sedimentary rocks, part of the Limagne Graben collapse basin.

Climate
Vichy enjoys an oceanic climate (Cfb). Heavy snows in the Massif Central often make roads impassable, but Vichy is low enough—about 249 m above sea level—that the climate is more continental than mountain. Rainfall is moderate around Vichy, averaging about 779.5 mm annually.

Roman era
The first known settlement at Vichy was established by Roman legionaries in 52BC. Returning south from their defeat at the Battle of Gergovia by the Gauls under Vercingetorix, they found the hot mineral springs beside the Flumen Elaver ("River Allier") and established the township of Aquae Calidae (Latin for "Hot Waters"). During the first two centuries AD, Vichy became fairly prosperous because of the supposed medicinal value of the thermal springs.

Middle Ages
On 2 September 1344, John II of France ceded the noble fiefdom of Vichy to Peter I, Duke of Bourbon. On 6 December 1374, the last part of Vichy was acquired by Louis II, Duke of Bourbon. At that point Vichy was incorporated into the House of Bourbon. In 1410, a Celestinian monastery was founded with twelve monks. A building located above the Celestinian Spring is still visible.

In 1527, the House of Bourbon was incorporated into the French Kingdom. By the end of the 16th century, the mineral baths had obtained a reputation for having quasi-miraculous curing powers and attracted patients from the noble and wealthy classes. Government officials, such as Fouet and Chomel, began to classify the curing properties of the mineral baths.

Vichy's thermal baths
Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné was a patient in 1676 and 1677 and would popularize Vichy's Thermal Baths through the written descriptions in her letters. The Vichy waters were said to have cured the paralysis in her hands, thus enabling her to take up letter-writing. In 1761 and 1762, Adélaïde and Victoire of France, the daughters of Louis XV, came to Vichy for the first time and returned in 1785. The bath facilities seemed extremely uncomfortable to them because of the muddy surroundings and insufficient access. When they returned to Versailles, they asked their nephew Louis XVI to build roomier and more luxurious thermal baths, which were subsequently completed in 1787.

In 1799, Laetitia Bonaparte, mother of Napoleon, came to be cured with her son Louis. Under the Empire, Le Parc des Sources, was created on the Emperor's orders (Decree of Gumbinen of 1812).

Under Charles X, the great increase in patients wishing to be healed at the springs led to an expansion of the hydrotherapeutic facilities. Princess Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte expanded the Janson buildings under the plan of Rose – Beauvais (work completed in 1830). From 1844 to 1853, theatrical and poetry recitals were performed for the wealthy in the comfort of their own homes by Isaac Strauss.

Vichy in style
By the 19th century, Vichy was a station à la mode, attended by many celebrities. However, it was the stays of Napoleon III between 1861 and 1866 that were to cause the most profound transformation of the city: dikes were built along the Allier, 13 ha of landscaped gardens replaced the old marshes and, along the newly laid-out boulevards and streets, chalets and pavilions were built for the emperor and his court. Recreational pursuits were not spared: in view of the park, a large casino was built by the architect Badger in 1865. The Emperor would be the catalyst of the development of a small rail station, which increased the number of inhabitants and visitors tenfold in fifty years.

After the Second French Empire, the Belle Époque marked the second large construction campaign in Vichy. In 1903, the Opera House (l'Opéra), the Hall of Springs and a large bath designed in the eastern style were inaugurated. In 1900, the Parc des Sources was enclosed by a metal gallery which came from the World Fair of 1889. 700 m long, it is decorated by a frise de chardons and was completed by the ironworker Emile Robert. Many private mansions with varied architectural styles were erected during the first half of the 20th century.

Vichy welcomed 40,000 curistes in 1900, and that figure had risen to nearly 100,000 just before the onset of the First World War. La vie thermale had its heyday in the 1930s. The success in treating ailments that was attributed to the Vichy Baths led la Compagnie Fermière to enlarge the Baths again by creating the Callou and Lardy Baths. The Art Nouveau-style Opéra, inaugurated in 1903, accommodated all the great names on the international scene. Vichy became the summertime music capital of France, but the war of 1914 would put a brutal end to that development.

Vichy France – seat of the French State, the pro-German collaborationist government
Following the armistice signed on 22 June 1940, the zone which was not occupied by the Germans took the name of the French State (État Français) (as opposed to the traditional name, République Française or French Republic) and set up its capital in Vichy on 1 July, because of the town's relative proximity to Paris (4.5 hours by train) and because it was the city with the second largest hotel capacity at the time. Moreover, the existence of a modern telephone exchange made it possible to reach the whole world via phone.

On 1 July, the government took possession of many hotels. Six hundred appointed members of the French Parliament came to Vichy for the meeting of the chambers. On 9 and 10 July, in the main auditorium of the Opera House, the members of Parliament voted for the end of the Third Republic. The republican system was abolished, and the French State, with Philippe Pétain at its helm as head of state, replaced it. Only 80 of the 600 members of parliament voiced their opposition.

Starting from this date, Vichy would be, for more than four years, the de facto capital of the French State. Paris was still the official capital, although the Vichy France government never operated from there. This government is often called the Vichy Regime. The term "Vichyste", which designates partisans of this regime, should not be confused with "Vichyssois" which designates the inhabitants of the city. The latter term is sometimes used erroneously to designate Pétain's supporters.

Reine des villes d'eaux
The 1950s and 1960s would become the most ostentatious period for Vichy, complete with parading personalities, visits from crowned heads (Thami El Glaoui, the Pasha of Marrakech; Prince Rainier III of Monaco) and profits from a massive influx of North African French clients who holidayed in Vichy, spending lavishly. There were thirteen cinemas (which sometimes showed special previews), eight dance halls and three theatres. It was at this period that the station would take the title of "Reine des villes d'eaux" (Queen of the Spa Towns).

From June to September, so many French-Algerian tourists were arriving that it almost seemed like there was an airlift set up between Vichy-Charmeil and the airports of Algeria. Mayor Pierre Coulon (1950–1967) decided to create Lake Allier (10 June 1963) and Omnisports Park (1963–68), giving the city its current look.

Decline of Vichy
The war in Algeria (1950s-60s), which led to decolonization, marked once again a halt in the prosperity of Vichy, which from then on had to deal with much less favorable conditions. The need to continue to pay the debts incurred by the considerable investments that had been made in more prosperous times obligated the new mayor, Jacques Lacarin (1967–1989), the successor of Pierre Coulon, to adopt a much more careful policy of management.

Modern revival
Claude Malhuret, former Minister of Human Rights, born in Strasbourg in 1950, was mayor from 1989 to 2017. He and Bernard Kouchner are the co-founders of Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières). The city and its economic partners have concluded an important program of restoration and modernization. These projects include:
 * creation of a vast pedestrian zone in the city center
 * a program of modernization
 * upgrading of hotels to the sector standards
 * rebuilding and restoration of the thermal baths
 * organization of a balneotherapy center dedicated to well-being
 * development of the architectural heritage
 * construction of a congress center within the old Casino, and
 * restoration of the Opera
 * rebuilding of the covered market, called "Grand Marché" (2006)
 * restoration of the train station and surroundings (2009)
 * restoration of the "Rue de Paris", a main street in the city centre (2010)

Economy
The city was first noted for its thermal cures in Roman times. Its waters come from springs such as the Vichy Celestins and Vichy Saint-Yorre.

Vichy Pastilles (made in Vichy) are octagon-shaped candies made from soda contained in the spring waters.

The health and beauty business, with the laboratories of the L'Oréal company, also make it possible to publicize the city's name to a worldwide audience under the Vichy brand.

Unlike the neighbouring communes on the Allier such as industrial Montluçon and administrative seat Moulins, Vichy's economy is centred on the tertiary sector, with companies like the Compagnie de Vichy developing the health and well-being sector to mitigate the decline of medical hydrotherapy. The local market, open on Sundays, attracts shoppers from tens of kilometres around.

The closing of two important local employers, the Manurhin company and the Sediver company, has reduced employment in the Vichy basin. Job creation by developing companies such as the NSE electronics company or the Satel call center company may not completely compensate for the removal of jobs, despite the internet tour operator Karavel's establishment of a new call center in May 2005.

Nevertheless, the two most important employers of the city belong to the public sector: the hospital (1,120 employees), and the town hall (500 ).

Since 1989, Vichy has been one of the seven sites of the European Total Quality Institute (Institut Européen de la Qualité Totale).

The Pôle Universitaire de Vichy (previously called Pôle Universitaire et Technologique Lardy), born from a project of thermal waste land rehabilitation and launched during the mid-1990s, is an economic priority. This 9000 m2 campus accommodates 600 students in the downtown area, in ten areas of study including the fields of biotechnology, international trade, multi-media and languages.

The CAVILAM – Alliance Française (Centre of Live Approaches to Languages and the Media), receives students from diverse countries who want to learn French. Created in 1964, under the impulse of the Universities of Clermont-Ferrand and the city of Vichy, CAVILAM – Alliance Française joined the international network of the Alliance Française in 2012. After the Covid lockdown, the center developed online courses for FLE teachers, FLE ressources pages, and foreign language courses  for locals.

The Palace of the Congresses is a venue primarily for the conferences of trade associations and learned societies. The structure is 1800 m2 in area, including two plenary rooms and fifteen multi-use rooms. With 25,000 visitors yearly, the conferences must carry the economic role once held by the hydrotherapy industry, which today counts only 12,000 patients each year. The hydrotherapy business will now have to reorganise itself to take a less strict therapeutic-only role, and adapt to patients' stays shorter than the traditional three weeks.

Building projects
Under the authority of the local communities, much work is being done on building sites and projects, which will deeply modify Vichy in the years to come. The construction by the Hotel of the Community of Agglomeration in September 2005 on the old site of the "Commercial City" may precede the total restoration of the market hall "Le Grand Marché" (which would cost €5.9 million) which would be delivered in September 2006. Other projects include the creation of a 12000 m2 mother-child centre in the hospital complex, the restoration of the spa façade (removal of the metal boarding to uncover the original style of 1862), the transformation of the spa into a multi-use center, creation of parks with fountains in place of parking lots, the demolition and the transformation of the buildings in a congested area to create an enterprise center intended to create 800 jobs (opened in early 2008), the construction of a new aquatic stadium including five basins (open since 2008), and motorway connection (opened in early 2015).

Notable people

 * Valery Larbaud (1881–1957), writer
 * Albert Londres (1884–1932), journalist
 * Guy Ligier (1930–2015), racing driver and founder of Équipe Ligier
 * Raël (born 1946), religious leader and founder of the Raëlian Religious Movement
 * Wilfried Moimbe (born 1988), footballer

Religion
A wide variety of faiths are practiced. Various Christian denominations such as diverse Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant churches are found throughout the area along with adherents of Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and others.
 * Catholicism: Presbytère Saint-Louis Saint-Blaise de Vichy at 33 Rue Sainte-Cécile and Presbytère Sainte Jeanne d'Arc at 2 Rue Jeanne d'Arc
 * Russian Orthodox Church: the nearby Château de Saint-Hubert in Chavenon
 * Calvinism: Église reformée located at 9 Rue de l'Intendance
 * Lutheranism: Église Saint-Blaise de Vichy located on the Rue de l'Église
 * Judaism: the Synagogue of Vichy located at 2 Bis Rue Maréchal Foch
 * Islam: the Mosquée al-Rahma located at 51 Allée des Ailes
 * Buddhism: the nearby Pagode Phap Vuong in Noyant-d'Allier

Highway access
Vichy is accessible from departmental road 2209, former Route nationale 209 (from the towns of Gannat or Varennes-sur-Allier), the Route nationale 106 from Thiers, the Route nationale 493 from Randan or the D6 from Charmeil.

The city is situated 20 km from the A719 autoroute and 35 km from the A89 autoroute.

The A719 autoroute, connecting Vichy to the A71 to Clermont-Ferrand, opened in January 2015.

In 2014, only regional two-lane highways (routes départementales) pass through the urban ring of Vichy. The D2209 is the principal axis of circulation for heavily loaded trucks, from the west (via Gannat) or the north (via Varennes-sur-Allier or Saint-Germain-des-Fossés) ; other important routes are the following (listed in the clockwise order):
 * the D906e, former D906, from the south (Abrest, Saint-Yorre, Thiers, Ambert, Livradois and Le Puy-en-Velay) ;
 * the D1093, from the southwest (Forest of Randan, Grande Limagne, Maringues, Riom, Clermont-Ferrand);
 * the D984, from the west-southwest (Bellerive-sur-Allier, Effiat, Aigueperse);
 * the D6, from the northwest (Charmeil, Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule).

The D67 is a loop to the north of the city created to limit traffic jams (access to Creuzier-le-Neuf, afterwards by the D907, Lapalisse and the N7).

Rail transport
Vichy is served by the following train lines:
 * Intercités (national trains, booking mandatory) to Paris (Bercy) and Clermont-Ferrand;
 * TER trains: Moulins, Lyon (Part-Dieu and Perrache), Clermont-Ferrand, Vic-le-Comte, Issoire, and Brioude.

Public transport
MobiVie is the network of urban transport for six communes of Vichy Communauté intercommunality. This network is composed of eight lines.

"Mobival" is an on-call transportation service for Vichy and its neighborhood. This service offers the local communes a reliable transportation service for areas that are not served by the MobiVie network. Created in October 2004, it has ten lines.

Air transport
Vichy is 5 km from Vichy — Charmeil Airport, and 55 km from the larger Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne Airport.

Twin towns – sister cities

Vichy is twinned with:
 * 🇩🇪 Bad Tölz, Germany
 * Dunfermline, Scotland, United Kingdom

 * 🇩🇪 Rhein-Neckar (district), Germany
 * 🇮🇹 San Giuliano Terme, Italy
 * 🇩🇪 Wilhelmshaven, Germany

title: Vichy