Carnival of Basel
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The Carnival of Basel (Basler Fasnacht) is the biggest carnival in Switzerland. It has recently been listed in the Top 50 Europe’s best local festivities. It takes place once a year between February and March.
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[edit] Fasnacht
The Basler Fasnacht starts on Monday after Ash Wednesday at precisely 4:00 in the morning with the so-called Morgestraich (see below). The carnival lasts for exactly 72 hours and therefore ends Thursday morning at 4:00am. In this time span the old town of Basel is ruled by the Fasnächtler (the participants), where they rally in the streets and restaurants. Basler Fasnacht is often referred to as "die drey scheenschte Dääg" (the three most beautiful days).
[edit] Costume
Each of the approximately 18,000 active Fasnächtlers wears a costume including a Larve (a mask). Wearing a costume means being incognito and it is not appropriate to identify oneself. In the cliques they wear uniform costumes (except for Morgestraich and Fasnacht Tuesday) that fit a specific "Sujet" (see below). One will find a broad variety of costume designs. Very often the masks represent famous persons (politicians or the like), sometimes even comic characters or animals. There are also more traditional masks that are reminiscent of the french army of Napoleon and are called Harlekin or the famous Waggis.
[edit] Cortège
The parades taking place on Monday and Wednesday afternoon are called Cortège. They follow two defined ring routes. The inner ring is running clockwise and the outer ring going counter-clockwise (sometimes related to as the blue and the red route because of their colour representation on the route map).[1]
[edit] Sujet
Most of the groups choose a Sujet (French: theme) for the Fasnacht. Usually they refer to contemporary history, which will be criticised in a sarcastic way. One will see these Sujets during Cortège and (on laterns only) at Morgenstreich. Most of the Cliques will also give away a Zeedel (a flyer with ironic verses).
[edit] Confetti
According to some local historians the throwing of confetti is a typical tradition from Basel and later spread to the rest of the world. There is no proof for this theory. Nevertheless, the amount of confetti used during Basler Fasnacht is huge compared with other carnivals. In the beginning confetti was used for sweets in the form of small sugar balls (from comfit, confection?), that where given away (or thrown at the crowd) during the processions. This came to be prohibited in the 19th century. As a replacement people started to use small shards of paper. (Until its ban in the second half of the 20th century it was also common to use straw instead of confetti). In some of the outlying towns and regions wheat chaff may be thrown still. In the Basel Swiss German dialect confetti are called Räppli. As a spectator you have always to be alert not to be attacked from behind by a confetti throwing Waggis. Especially if not wearing your Fasnacht badge or "Blaggedde" which rings a bit like "plaquette" to french and english readers. However it is an unwritten law not to target any of the masked and/or costumed participants. On the other hand spectators not wearing a Blaggedde (Carnival badge, see below) are a favoured target.
In the evening, the routes of the Cortège are covered with confetti ankle-deep. It is very impressive that the sanitation department is able to remove huge amounts of confetti and other waste in less than two hours during the night. Afterwards you will hardly notice any evidence of the last day's event. Amusingly, you can only buy single-coloured (any colour, but not mixed) confetti in Basel. This was decided by the regional confetti manufacturers to prevent the once common practice of reselling of "used" confetti. Throwing of mixed confetti is seen as bad form as you would have picked it up from the street, which is obviously not hygienic.
[edit] Groups
You will notice 5 major types of groups at Basler Fasnacht:
[edit] Clique
One of the oldest formations are the Cliques. They are marching through the old town playing piccolo flute and basler drum. A Clique usually consists of a Vortrab (vanguard), the Pfeifer (flutists, pipe?), the Tambourmajor (drum major) and the Tambouren (drummers). Except on Cortège the Cliques do not follow fixed routes. It's therefore usual to cross the route of another Clique. In that case, one clique will stop and let the other Clique pass. Spectators on the other hand will be politely guided off the route by the Vortrab.
[edit] Gugge (brass band)
You will also find marching bands on Basler Fasnacht called Guggenmusik. These formations will not participate on Morgestreich but only at Cortège on Monday, Wednesday, the evenings and especially on Tuesday Night where they hold their Gugge-Concerts.
[edit] Schnitzelbank
The Schnitzelbank is a bard that sings verses in an ironic or even sarcastic way about actual events happening in Basel or around the world. The verses are sung in Swiss German and the singer will show "Helge" (illustrations) to the current verse.
[edit] Waage (truck)
Only on Cortège you will notice trucks (or tractors) with decorated trailers. On or in the trailers are usually 'Waggis' throwing oranges and giving away other goodies, sweets, flowers or other stuff. Mind that these Waggis are also the main source of the famous confetti.
The Waggis are an affectionate spoof on the Alsatian smallholder farmers who in the distant past regularly rolled up to Basel markets to sell produce.
Some of the trucks are on display on the Kasernenareal from Monday night to Wednesday morning.
[edit] Single Mask
There are also many individuals and small groups, who, for instance are dressed up as Waggis, and wander clueless through the streets and cover onlookers with confetti (known in the local dialect as Räppli).
[edit] Chaise / Schäse (carriage)
Similar to the "Waage" you can see carriages with only 2-4 persons giving away goodies. Most of them are less rude than the Waggis and dressed as old Ladies, the "Alti Tante" (meaning "old aunt") giving them a royalish feeling.
[edit] Morgestraich
The Morgestraich on Monday morning at 4am marks the beginning of the Carnival in Basel. Exactly at 4am all the lights in the old town of Basel are turned off, the "Basler Stadtwerke" (power plants) even shut down the streetlights. The only light remaining comes from the laterns of the Cliques. There are 2 major types of laterns, the big ones called "Zugslaterne", that are wheel mounted or carried by 2 to 4 people in front of the Cliques and the head mounted "Kopflaterne" that every participant wears. Some Cliques have uniform Kopflaterns as traditionally on Morgestraich nobody wears uniform costumes.
[edit] Gugge Concerts
On Tuesday evening, the area around Marktplatz, Barfüsserplatz and Claraplatz belongs to the Gugge music groups, who play their brass instruments. The pipe groups retreat to the side streets.
The groups march through the city centre, then stop and play four to five songs and then go on. It is also typical for the groups to stop in cafés and restaurants and serenade the guests.
[edit] Children and Family Fasnacht
The Children and Family Fasnacht is on Tuesday. On this day, there are many parades through the city, but in this case, it is not the cliques, but instead families with their children who make and ride in the floats. If the people come from different cliques, one can see different masks together.
It is not expected that the children, especially the youngest, will wear the heavy traditional costumes and masks. Besides the waggis, cowboy costumes for the boys and princess costumes for the girls are the most common.
[edit] Lantern Exhibition
All the lanterns are on display from Monday evening until Wednesday morning on the Münsterplatz (the square in front of the Basler Münster). The lantern exhibition is referred to as the largest open-air art exhibition of the world, which is definitely worth a visit especially in the evenings when the laterns are lit.
[edit] Events around Fasnacht
There are a number of events that occur before and after Fasnacht. The following overview covers the most important.
[edit] Pre-Fasnacht events
Before Fasnacht starts, various events are taking place. Some of them are used for experiments with the Fasnacht topic like, for example Fasnachts-Musicals or concerts with traditional Fasnacht instruments and crossovers with "classic" instruments. Most of these events also feature Schnitzelbanks or other satiric elements. Below is a list of some of the so-called "Vorfasnachtsveranstaltungen":
- Mimösli at the Häbsetheater
- Offizielles Preistrommeln und -pfeifen (the official contest of Drummers and Flutists)
- Pfyfferli at the Theater Fauteuil
- Charivari in the Volkshaus
- Räppli-Serenade in the Rheinpark (cancelled since 2005)
- Stubete in the Restaurant 'Atlantis'
- Kinder-Charivari in the Theater Basel
- Monstre-Trommelkonzert (aka "Drummeli") in the Messe Basel
- Fasnachtsbändeli (for children and families), Theater Arlecchino
- S Ridicule in the Helmut Förnbacher Theater Company at Badischer Bahnhof
[edit] Lantern piping
The lantern piping ("Ladärne yynepfyffe") is on the Sunday evening before Fasnacht. The lanterns, most of which are still wrapped (as they come from the place where they were made), are brought to the place where the parade begins in the city centre. They are accompanied by the pipers. The drummers leave their drums at home for this event.
[edit] Kehrausball
On the Saturday after Fasnacht, there are many masked balls, which are together known as the Kehrausball (or "Kehruss" in the local dialect). Many cliques have their own masked balls in the clique-cellars.
[edit] Bummel Sunday
After Fasnacht, the cliques and Gugge music groups go to the so-called Bummel on the following three Sundays. This get-together is the end of the Fasnacht year and normally takes the form of a short vacation and a restaurant visit. After they come back to Basel, the Fasnächtler march through the streets of Basel without their masks and costumes.
[edit] Organisation
Since 1911, the organisation of Fasnacht has been arranged by the Fasnachts-Comité, which acts as the official contact for all questions and concerns about Fasnacht. The Comité is also charged with giving out the Fasnacht badges. These are given in four sessions and cost between CHF 7 and 100. The profits made are given to the Fasnacht groups. It is requested, though not required, that visitors purchase a badge, so that the groups can continue to finance themselves. The saying goes: "He who doesn't have a badge harms the Fasnacht."
[edit] Fasnacht in Numbers
In 2004, over 480 units were registered with the Fasnachts-Comité: 141 cliques, organisations and groups, 141 floats and coaches, 61 Gugge music groups, 86 pipe and drums groups, and 55 individual masks and small groups. In total, there were more than 12,000 Fasnächtler who took part in organised groups. In addition, there were approximately 6,000 "wild" Fasnächtler, who were not organised in a clique or group (known as Schyssdräggzygli). A total of 185 parade lanterns were carried or pushed on a mobile frame.
[edit] History
Why the Carnival of Basel starts a week later than the surrounding cities is not clear. Usually it's explained that after the Reformation in 1520, Basel kept celebrating its Fasnacht whilst the other regions officially stopped celebrating it. It is said, that to differ from the Catholic customs, Fasnacht was scheduled one week later starting in 1529. There are no documents from this era supporting that theory. Only 200 years later were the resolutions of 1529 quoted. Today the Carnival of Basel is said to be "the only Protestant carnival in the world".
Historians note that the Catholic carnival date was rescheduled 6 days earlier in 1091 in the Council of Benevent because the Sundays were excluded from the 40-day fasting period before Easter.
[edit] Noteworthy
- In 2002 the Basler Stadtwerke turned the streetlights off too early at 03:59am. Nonetheless Fasnacht went on until Thursday 4:00am. Therefore the 2002 Fasnacht lasted 1 minute longer that usual.
- During the night before Morgestraich 2006 about 50cm of snow fell within only a couple of hours and blocked the inner city of Basel. It took great effort to free the city from the snow and enable the Fasnacht to take place. Never before has a Fasnacht been celebrated with more snow (especially not fresh-fallen snow). 50cm is the third highest snow level and the highest level of fresh-fallen snow within 24 hours ever recorded in Basel.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
- Basler Fasnacht Online (partly English)
- Fasnachts-Comité
- Dossier "Die Basler Fasnacht" at altbasel.ch (page in German)
- Private picture gallery of the Morgenstraich and the Monday Cortège 2006
