Danish singer Nanna Oland Fabricius goes by the name Oh Land and, after releasing the last couple of her albums via a major label deal, she’s turned her back on The Man and has gone back to her roots with her latest electro-pop effort, Earth Sick. She has used the power of crowd funding to finance the album, recorded it in her Brooklyn apartment and used her opera singing mother, string arranging father, viola and cello playing aunt and uncle to play on it. Even her husband designed the artwork. All this has given the new album her usual electronica polish but with a warm humanism that can be missing from a lot of this kind of music. She’ll be playing at Papiersaal on Friday night. 

Friday 8.30 pm, Papiersaal

Old Grandma Ronster used to say to me that I shouldn't pay for something if I could get it for free. This is partly the reason I have a small criminal record and wholly the reason I'm going to another free open-air music festival in Zurich this weekend.  Openair Wipkingen takes place on the banks of the Limmat and, as usual, the line-up is pretty eclectic including the electric folk of Moes Anthill, the Afrobeat soul of Alina Amuri and the electropop of  Say Yes Dog. If you’d prefer a more traditional street party then the Quartierfest at Hottingen is also happening this weekend. As well as kids fairground rides and competitions, you’ll also be able to take a ride on ponies and camels. There’ll be a rock’n’roll acrobatic show and a couple of live bands, with Saturday night finishing off with the funk-soul-disco party band Barbie Q. 

Friday 6 pm and Saturday 5 pm, Openair Wipkingen, Wipkingerpark, 8037

Saturday 2 pm and Sunday 10 am, Quartierfest Hottingen, Hottingerplatz, 8032

Where would you be if you were watching opera being performed under the perfect blue of a lapis lazuli sky, as you sat beside a sunlit lake, quaffing your favourite drink and letting the warm summer breeze gently caress your cheek? One answer is that you might be trapped in my particularly purple-prosed imagination; the other is that you're on Sechseläutenplatz this Saturday enjoying the Oper für Alle evening. The Opernhaus will be showing a live on-stage performance of Verdi's Aida on a huge screen across the square. Picnic baskets and folding chairs are encouraged, as are your thoughts that life doesn't get much better than this. 

Saturday 5 pm, Sechseläutenplatz (outside Opernhaus)

The summer solstice has always been a day of celebration for those of us with a little pagan in our souls. So if you’re in a Wicker Man kind of mood on Saturday, head down to Zürihorn and look out for the Midsummer pole. This will be the gathering place for the solstice festivities. Bring your own food, drink and music as well as flowers and offerings to decorate the pole. As the sun sets and if you’d prefer to move indoors, then the wildness will continue at Gainsbourg with their midsummer party with dj Marco Di Lillo. 

Saturday from 12 pm, Zürihorn

Saturday from 10 pm, Gainsbourg

I asked you last week if anyone would be interested in being judge and jury in a burger contest. Well, it seems as if this was on the bucket list of many of you but only two made it through to the final selection. Congratulations to both of you and glad I could make your dreams come true. The event itself is called Burgers & Hip Hop and is at Exil on Saturday. In the burger line-up are five burger restaurants, with three from Zurich, which will be competing to become King Burger 2015, although you don’t need to be in the jury to enjoy the burgers on offer. The hip-hop dj line-up is equally juicy with Monsieur Dope and P3rry P3rry leading the charge, alongside 3 times ITF World Champion dj Kid Fresh. With the event taking place indoors and out, it should have the vibe of a great block party.

Saturday from 2 pm, Exil

This Sunday is the day of light, also known as the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, and to make sure that no second of this special day is wasted, a group of 16 artists, actors and musicians from Asia, South America and Europe will be staging an outdoor 16-hour non-stop performance at Zeughaushof. Each artist and  performance will last for an hour before a new one starts, with the first beginning as the sun rises at 5.29 am, and the last performing until sunset at 9.26 pm. Go see the sun rise. I dare you.

Sunday from 5.29 am until 9.26 pm, Zeughaushof

Summer is here and Zurich has turned into one big construction site. But I always find road works less irritating when I know why I have to find my way through a maze. So here's a short overview. Albisriederplatz: The tram stop gets a face lift and the bottleneck after Hardbrücke will be reorganized. The works continue until the end of September. This weekend, there are no trams running past Albisriederplatz, so account for a longer journey beforehand. Bellevue: The bridge will be restructured and the tram tracks need to be replaced. These are the main reasons for the road works at the lake which should be finished by November. The upside: From the temporary catwalk you get an amazing view over the lake and the city. Hardbrücke: The road workers are once here and once there. But very soon they’ll start with the new tramline over the bridge. Exciting! However this will take until 2017 to be finished. More: On the city website you find an A-Z listing all ongoing 147 construction sites in the city and their purposes. 

What do you bring along when invited to dinner? Flowers? This works most of the time. But I prefer their edible version the «Mapfstrauss ». It’s pretty and a few days after your visit, the host can use it to cook another special meal, as every bouquet comes with a recipe. A bunch costs between 38 and 48 francs and you can buy them at the markets at Oerlikon or Frau Gerolds Garten.