The two high points of the chocolate year are Christmas and Easter. Shops all over Switzerland are filled with chocolate Santas for the first and eggs and rabbits for the second. The standard versions are made in moulds; luxury versions are lovingly hand-made.

Special commemorative chocolates may be produced to celebrate one-off events, which also offer confectioners an ideal opportunity to let their creative spirit run wild. Take the EURO 2008 football tournament, hosted by Switzerland and Austria, for example. Shops were filled with chocolate footballs, players, boots, and even replica football grounds – pure heaven for all chocolate-loving footie fans! 

Or special regional events find their expression in chocolate. In Geneva, people buy chocolate tureens filled with marzipan vegetables in December, to commemorate the "Escalade" of 1602, when the city beat off a night attack by the Duke of Savoy. The tureen represents the pot of soup which a heroic housewife, Mère Royaume, hurled onto the heads of the invading troops! 

During the annual Geneva International Motor Show, window displays in the city feature every imaginable type of car – in chocolate, of course! In Zurich, people buy chocolate replicas of the Böögg, a snowman effigy which is burnt as part of Sechseläuten, a traditional festival, signalling the end of winter and the long-awaited arrival of spring.