Were you worried when you heard the sirens wailing throughout the city yesterday? No need! Every year the government tests all sirens across Switzerland. Usually on the first Wednesday in February. As there was a technical problem this year, the test was repeated on Wednesday at 1.30 pm.

Take care

That's great. Just as the weather finally gets warm enough for me to slip into my pink swimming thong, Zurich decides it's the perfect moment to have its biggest food event. Well, they do say 'the more Ron, the merrier', so maybe the food/thong combo won't be too bad. For 11 days Food Zurich will host over 150 culinary events taking place across the city, from the finest of dining to picnics, including hunting edible urban plants with guerrilla gardeners, a tour across town with the Paella Tuk, and making your own 16 flavours of ice cream. Full programme here. My personal favourite: The Street Food Festival. Until the 10th June, Stadionbrache Hardturm will be home to over 100 stalls and vans selling the stickiest, sweetest and most scrumptious food that the streets of the world have to offer.

The neighbourhoods of Zurich have really come into their own over the last few years. Rather than there being just a couple of areas to hang out (i'm looking at you, Langstrasse and Niederdorfli), there is now a flourishing array of them. Wipkingen has been one of these hot spots, with the Nordbrücke bar being at its heart. Over the weekend the good folks at Nordbrücke will be celebrating their 10th birthday with a 3-day mini-festival of live music including Rizzoknor and Dawns Mystery, djs and a couple of photo exhibitions.

Because of the political situation in Iran, and viewed through the prism of mass media, the country can often be seen as just a seething mass of discontent and strife, but Iranian culture and art have always been things of great power and sustenance, and influential far beyond Iran’s own borders. In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in Persian contemporary art, especially cinema, with Iranian films winning hundreds of international awards over the last decade. To celebrate the work of current Iranian filmmakers, the Iranian Film Festival will be taking place at Kosmos for the next week, and will be showing 17 new feature-length and documentary films. See the full programme here. All movies have English subtitles. Also, if that's got you in the mood for some movie magic, but you want an al fresco feeling to go along with it, FLiK will be having an open-air cinema at ETH Hönggerberg. Thursday they're showing Darkest Hour, while on Friday it's the classic Shawshank Redemption. They'll have a bar and grill on site, with live music during the afternoon. Films start at dusk. Free entry.

New York may have its skyscrapers, Rome its Colosseum and Sydney its Opera House, but can any of them claim to have Switzerland's largest outdoor surfing pool? Thought not! And that's why they're all losers, and Zurich is the best city in the world. Urbansurf are having their official season opening party on Friday, right next to the giant waves, with dj Sche Sche bringing the sounds of Hive and Zukunft with him, a surprise live band, surf show, and drinks and cocktails supplied by Mikks pop-up bar.

If you want to know what the youth of Switzerland are singing about, then you'll need to head to the suburbs. Or more specifically the Vorstadt Sounds Festival (vorstadt translates to suburb; otherwise that makes no sense!) Over 2 days and across 3 stages, they'll have 20 of Switzerland's finest underground and up-and-coming bands and singers playing everything from space-pop to trash-rock. You'll need a festival pass to see all the concerts, but the Openair stage is free for all.

If you're one of those fancy people who can walk, talk and shop at the same time, then are you in for a treat this weekend. Kreislauf 345 is happening on Saturday and Sunday, and will guide you through not only the stores, workshops and studios but also the cafés, bars and restaurants that Zurich's hippest and creative quarters have to offer. There'll also be guided tours by some local luminaries (most in German, one in English). The actual Kreislauf guide book has currently sold out, but is well worth picking up when next available, even outside of the Kreislauf weekend. You can also use their online map for finding all locations taking part.

One evening (not so long ago) i cycled towards Lochergut and almost crashed into a car, because the former «Chez Toi» caught my eye. The large letters in the window have gone, instead i spot some plants and the simple sign at the door states «Kin». Aah, a new restaurant...

With Crimer's «Follower» in my ear i thought i'd share some of the most exciting insta-accounts in town with you. Here are my top 10 from clubs to profiles and from departments to blogs.