WHO MOVED MY CHEESE TO BERN?

It’s a wild, wonderful November in the world of luxury—and it smells faintly of cheese and champagne. Two events are stealing the global spotlight this month: the World Cheese Awards in Bern, Switzerland, and the Ecoluxury Fair in Rome, Italy—both happening on November 13th, 2025.

What a coincidence! One is the creamiest brie on earth, while the other is the future of guilt-free glamour. They both possess ample decadence, fashion, and storytelling that will easily bring even the most seasoned traveller to their knees. Therefore, put on your seatbelt (and maybe even loosen your belt). La Polo is leading you on a mouthwatering adventure from Bern’s fondue-ridden craziness to a sustainable-luxe party in Rome.

Bern’s Big Cheese Moment

Be kind to yourself, Hollywood—the World Cheese Awards are going to make the Oscars look like child’s play. This November, an absolute celebration of cheese dairy will take place as the new winner of the best cheese in the world will be chosen at this event. And the honour to host this year’s competition goes to Bern with its newly built Festhalle.

Just picture such a scenario: thousands and thousands of cheese entries—more than 5,000 cheese entries from approximately 50 different countries—waiting to get the title of champion. Yes, it is as dramatic as it sounds.

Think of the judges tasting brie, cheddar, gouda, and other combinations of odd blue cheese designed to get the title while being served in the crisp Swiss air on small patterned plates to the judges. Not only the judges, but there will also be an exciting crowd of artisanal cheesemaking competitors, food journalists, and all the various types of cheese-loving tourists and civilians—those who are very much acquainted with the cheese category of the food pyramid, in a way.

Bern will host cheese-lover-focused activities—fondue waterfalls, beer pairings, cheese markets, and a cheese trolley that leads you around the city, while small-plate sampling from the respective locations that you glide by—part foodie journey, part social spectacle.

Expect moments that you will laugh at, taste, and possibly even cry at (yes, cheese tears like the tears of joy):

Judges with expert knowledge carving up 50 shades of cheddar with samurai precision.
Thermal debates arguing over the “right” texture of the perfect Gruyère.
Tourists are taking selfies with entire cheese wheels like they are A-list celebrities.
And of course, the lovely smell of mature dairy flowing through Bern’s mediaeval streets.

But the World Cheese Awards is more than a cheese tasting—it is a showcase of craftsmanship, culture, and connection. Behind every wheel is a story: mountain farmers perfecting centuries-old recipes, innovators testing concoctions of plant-based cheeses, and communities that live and breathe the craft of cheesemaking.

And if that wasn’t enough, your cheese festival entry pass also gets you into Bern’s Beer Festival, too. Because when in Switzerland, why choose between hops and curds when you can enjoy both?

So yes, Bern goes bananas (or bonkers) because of Brie this November. And for anyone to believe luxury can happily live deliciously down to earth, these are indeed the good times, ~gouda~, come fall.

Rome’s Revolution in Responsible Glamour

A thousand kilometres south, Rome indicates that luxury can embody both conscientiousness and killer style at the Ecoluxury Fair 2025, now in its eighth edition in the spectacular Palazzo Brancaccio: a show that is helping to reinvent the future of travel, one sustainable sip at a time.

This is not one of those sterile trade shows, nor is it like the concept of sustainability influenced by the Italian style. It is frescoed ceilings, clinking glasses of organic prosecco, and whiling away the hours discussing the new carbon-neutral resorts and slow travel to make the connection. It is where the luxury tourism world have come together to find new kin and share the rethinking of what “eco” really means in 2025.

The event will feature over 300 of the world’s top buyers and 1,000 guests plus a very creative group of future seekers, hoteliers, and green travel innovators who are getting together to revive the glamour of green travel. The show has mapped a network of discussions and dialogues on topics varying from circular design and electric mobility to eco-architecture and responsible hospitality through the Tourism & Sustainability Forum.

This isn’t just talking and panels—the fair is alive with spontaneous meet-ups, feel-good experiences, TED-style talks, and cocktail evenings in the garden that know no end and stretch into the late Roman nights. The new partnerships, over canapés, and a blend of the most recent sustainability trends will be complemented by a week of sipping biodynamic wine and whispered sharing.

Rome—a city that embodies everlasting gloriousness and beauty—is the ideal backdrop for the reimagined luxury. Here, “responsible” does not imply dullness and uninterestedness—rather, it implies style, futurism, and life.

Italy’s luxury travel sector has racked up €25 billion, and “sustainable” is definitely the word of the decade, leading us to conclude “eco” and “exclusive” are the new power couple. An exhibitor echoed, “Luxury without conscience is out of style.”

In classic Roman fashion, the fair culminates not in goodbyes but in a toast to travel as healing. Arrive in Rome and leave your brand of life by nature-based excitement.

The Best of Both Worlds

So here is the delicious choice: will you trek to Bern for cheese heaven or to Rome for sustainable glitz? Naturally, the answer is both—if not physically, in spirit!

These two events may be miles apart (the cheese festival in the Alps and the style/sustainability summit in the Eternal City)—so what do Berna and Rome tell the larger story about global luxury? It’s not just about indulgence; it’s about meaning, innovation, and connection.

In Bern, you sample the world’s diversity through its dairy. In Rome, you are strategising how to safeguard it. Both communicate the spirit of luxury today: experience, ethics, and untold excitement.

November 13 is to be a day of both differences and similarities:

In Bern: Laughter over a pot of zipping fondue, hands dusted with parmesan, and a ring of champagne glasses clinking through the Festhalle.

In Rome: Ideas flowing like fine wine, eco-chic partnerships developing under chandeliers, and a feeling of progressive literacy in the air.

And irrespective of the situation, you might be either riding on a tram in Switzerland or strolling on the cobbled street of Via Merulana; for a short while, you are involved in a worldwide movement that elevates the utmost enjoyment along with intention.

Thus, get your passport and your taste buds ready. Cheese of world-class quality or luxury travel’s future, the pair of events in November has one guarantee overall: pure, unforgettable joy, offered with a touch of elegance (and perhaps a couple of cheesy jokes during the course).

After all, who said saving the planet couldn’t be delicious?