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Sechseläuten 2010

Each April, the citizens of Zurich gather to watch the burning of Winter in effigy by setting fire to the Böögg, basically a snowman whose head is filled with explosives. This tradition which has been around since medieval times is similar to Groundhogs day in the US except the length of the burn is supposed to correspond to the length and strength of Summer. The more time that elapses from when the pyre is set on fire and when the head explodes, the longer and more intense the Summer will be. It's a bizarre tradition but one well worth checking out simply because watching a snowman explode into a ball of flame is definitely something different to do at 6 PM on a Monday evening.

Sechseläuten is a German word that translates into "The six o'clock ringing of the bells"

Before the burning of the Böögg, a parade of all the local guilds fill the street. The guilds are primarily made of up different trades: wine-makers, bakers, tailors, saddle makers, tanners, shoe-makers, butchers, fisherman, etc... I don't fully understand the point of the parade except for it being a good opportunity for members of the guilds to dress up in silly costumes, drink themselves stupid with wine while dressed up in silly costumes, playing instruments while dressed up in silly costumes, riding horses while dressed in silly costume, and handing out gifts while dressed in silly costumes.

For some reason, there were several woman (old and young) who lined the streets of the parade route with a basket full of flowers. Their responsibility was to hand out flowers to certain members of the guild and to give them the traditional Swiss greeting which is 3 kisses on the cheek. (Switzerland has a very formal greeting system which involve various forms of greetings, kisses, handshakes, and verbal announcements - it is complicated) I couldn't really understand who did/didn't receive flowers and how they were recognized  but my assumption is that the more flowers you had, the more important you were. If you were old, you rode in the float and people brought you wine and flowers.

Another fun fact about Switzerland is that schools here make you learn about music and instruments no matter what. When applying to rent an apartments, there is a section that asks what instruments you play. You can choose to continue playing or not but at some point, you are given some music instruction. In school you are given an exam where the teacher will play 3 notes and you have to recognize what they are. The result of this is that there are an inordinate number of people who play in marching bands. Every guild in the parade had a marching band and a cavalry - straight up, no shit!

Some of the parade highlights:

1) The random gifts being thrown into the crowd from the floats: candy, apples, bread, dead fish, sausages, shots of wine (these were handed and not thrown), and radishes.

2) Neckwear: many of the people were wearing random baked goods around their necks on strings - gipfle (croissants), cookies, and pretzels seemed to be the favorites.

3) A guy in a bear costume (unfortunately I didn't get a picture of this! DAMNIT!): not very unique you say? You wouldn't normall think so but what made this guy interesting is that he was in a bear costume made out of an actual bear hide. Someone killed a bear and then made a costume out of it. Awesome!

4) A dirty clown: not really sure if this clown was drunk or what but he would sit next to the old (60+) ladies sitting on the benches that lined the parade path and clown it up as if he were a nice clown. Then he would make an obscene gesture with his tongue. It was bizarre.