It's the most amazing thing! The city goes absolutely berserk! Every town has it's own small Fasnacht parade too, in which mostly school kids and kindergarteners dress up in a theme and march to the music played by Cliques (special Fasnacht bands which play traditional music, mostly on pipes, drums and brass instruments).
In the city, it's another matter altogether - it's a big crazy party of music and costumes. The adult groups - sport groups, work groups, friend groups, etc - also dress in themes and often have a 'subject' to make some point about. This is often political or a satirical comment on a well-known issue.
They carry huge laterns with comments about their issue/subject which are so huge and heavy they have to employ people to carry them. Many people take the three days off to party and/or observe the revelry.
This was our first taste of Fasnacht - in our little village, Muttenz. This was school kids and kindy kids in the parade.
The people in the parade throw confetti at the bystanders, and sometimes shove it down your back! They also throw or give sweets to the kids. Flynn was beside himself when they started coming our way!
These masks (with the big hair and noses) are one of the very tradtional types, from hundreds of years ago. They are called Waggis (pronounced 'vaagees')
Benjy insisted on being in my arms throughout the parade as the costumes were pretty scary. All in all, he wasnt so impressed, but he warmed up to it all and really enjoyed the kids' day in the city, which was HUGE!
I went out on one of the Fasnacht evenings with some of my girlfriends to see what it was all about. It really was amazing. The whole town is packed with people, bands, parading cliques, and more. The bars are all jam-packed, it's like being at a huge concert that goes throughout the town. A Waggis grabbed my friend and tried to shove confetti down her back, but fell over in the process, taking them both into the gutter. - very funny for those of us not on the receiving end!
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