We just finished celebrating Fasnacht,
the biggest Carnival in Switzerland. On
Sunday evening we headed to Liestal, a suburb of Basel, to watch a very unique
parade called “Chienbäse”. It’s
literally a fire parade, with participants walking down the main street
carrying huge torches (literally a campfire on a stick!), or pulling wagons of
burning wood.
There were no barricades
or anything to keep the crowd back so when they walked by, the burning embers
and smoke were up close and personal! It
was ummm, quite toasty and smoky. The parade’s
website advised spectators to wear old clothes and not to wear anything
flammable (ha). Perhaps it’s not the
safest celebration, but the fire brigade was on hand and seemed in control.
Each city hosts its own celebration
and Basel’s starts on the Monday following Ash Wednesday and lasts 72-hours. Months before Fasnacht, a current theme is chosen and transferred
to the costumes, masks and lanterns. Costumes
commonly represent famous persons (like politicians), comic characters and
animals. The celebration starts promptly at
4:00 AM with the “Morgenstreich”. At
this time the city’s lights are turned off and Cliques (groups) of fifers and
drummers in various costumes/masks parade through town pushing wheel-mounted or
wearing head-mounted transparent lanterns. We woke up bright and early to see it!
We didn’t understand the Basel
dialect, the things they made fun of (usually local events and personalities) or
the city’s own special brand of humor with its strong irony. Matt’s colleague, who’s Swiss himself, said he
even has a hard time understanding it! However,
we didn’t need an interpreter to appreciate the costumes, music, crowds or the
floats throwing candy and confetti. It’s
so colorful and festive!
On Monday afternoon, and on
Wednesday afternoon as well, the Cliques marched throughout the city on a
somewhat organized parade route, making their way through throngs of
spectators. The route actually went
right down our street!
Tuesday evening was dedicated to the
Guggenmusik, or brass bands.
Ooh, lots of confetti!
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