Carnival in Switzerland, Solothurn

Today was “shmutzige Donnschtig” (dirty Thursday) and the first day of our carnival season in Solothurn (Fassnacht) which ends next week on Wednesday. Solothurn is the town just down the road. It begins at 6.00 in the morning, so the people in our village have to depart at 5.00 in the morning to arrive in Solothurn in time. It is a very special sort of thing. Those taking part this morning have to wear a long white nightdress with a red necktie and a white nightcap preferably with a tassle. They carry anything with them that makes noise and they really make noise. This morning there were 6,000 people on the procession through the town. It is all very organised with the chief Chesslete man leading the procession and everyone following.

After the procession everyone visits the local restaurants, if there is still room, and eat flour soup and warm cheese cakes. It is all in the name of tradition. Me, as english person, had never known carnival. I am not a friend of it, too much noise and too much excitement, but those that grow up with it have it in their system. Anyhow here is a YouTube film of this morning’s procession with all the trimmings. You will not understand very much as it is all in Swiss German, but I am sure the pictures will be something completely different.

WordPress Daily Prompt: Always Something There To Remind Me

A song comes on the radio and instantly, you’re transported to a different time and place. Which song(s) bring back memories for you and why? Be sure to mention the song, and describe the memory it evokes. 

Photographers, artists, poets: show us PAST.




We have carnival in the area where I live in Switzerland. It is basically a catholic thing and Switzerland being divided between Catholic and Swiss Reform Church, it is only really celebrated in the catholic areas and Solothurn is a catholic Kanton/state.

This means that you arise on the Thursday morning when it starts at around 4.00 a.m. You dress in a white long nightshirt, tie a red scarf around your neck and wear a white pointed night cap with a tassel. The next part of the operation is to take anything that makes noise. It can be a horn, a metal can with something to bang on it etc. etc. You get the idea. Then these nightdress clad people meet, march around the town and make noise I think the idea is to frighten the bad spirits away, although it is morning a wakey wakey sort of thing. After the exhaustion of this maternal carnival ritual, the local restaurants are visited for a plate of flour soup (it is tradition) and a cheese cake. The spirits may again be revisited, but in liquid form. This is just the beginning.

The following Sunday afternoon is the carnival parade. Of course we do not call it carnival. It is a Swiss thing and known as Fassnacht. The first photo was take a couple of years ago of some of the dressed up characters in the procession. The costumes are really something to see, very colourful. There is also music played by costumed marching bands. The whole thing finishes on the following Ash Wednesday when a giant dummy is burnt on the market square, during which the town band marches around the burning giant playing a sad tune. The figure is stuffed with fireworks, just to end the carnival with a few more bangs.

Ok, you got it. I do not like this carnival thing and am glad to stay at home in my little sleepy village leaving my safe and quiet home for a shopping trip now and again when they let me out. At the time of shopping most of the carnival happy-go-lucky people are sleeping away the nocturnal enjoyments.

For many members of this carnival thing, the day turns to night and the night to day, so how does normal life progress? It does not progress. For those partaking it means they sacrifice a week’s holiday from work to avoid falling asleep at their desk. There are a few brave souls that try to carry on a normal working life, but it does not work so well. They often fall asleep at their workplace. I remember the days when the kids were kids and of course no self-respecting mum would not accompany their little children to see the fun and I was a victim. I would stand in the freezing cold watching the procession pass by: the children running around shooting their toy pistols, throwing confetti and having a few flash bangs thrown at you. I was so glad when these days were gone and my kids, no longer being kids, would go on their own.

Sorry, but I do not think I will plaster my daily prompt with YouTube video memories, it is just too boring. Of course there is music from days gone by, tunes that bring back memories, but I just do not want to launch into a discourse of where and why and who. I like blogging, but there are things that do not belong on a public blog.

It seems to me that my blogging life on the daily prompt is slowly becoming one big repetition. I am posting photos from earlier, talking about my life in the days when I was young and lovely and moving without creaks and twinges in the joints. At least when I enter the happy blogging grounds there will be Something There to Remind You of the blogger that almost won the Pulitzer/Nobel Prize in 52 Shades of memories.

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It's Fasnacht - Carnival Season in Switzerland

If you happen to be in Switzerland at the end of January/beginning February and you get woken up in the morning by noise from bells, banging on dustbin lids, horns or whatever, then the people have not escaped from the local mental hospital, they are celebrating the beginning of the carnival season in the areas around Solothurn and Luzern. Fasnacht is mainly a catholic thing, so the big things happen in the catholic areas of Switzerland. I live in the kanton of Solothurn and although I am not a carnival person, you can't really escape from it. The photo shows the "chesslete" which is the beginning. People dress up in a white night shirt with a red scarf round their necks (it must be red) and they wear a white night cap. The shops are full of them for people to buy. They then meet at five in the morning and start making their noise in a procession (organised of course, we are in Switzerland) and at eight in the morning they usually retire to the nearest restaurant where they eat cheese cakes and flour soup (you roast flour in a saucepan, add liquid, salt to taste and the soup is ready). This is all part of tradition. Then everyone either goes to work, or goes home depending on whether they will carry on celebrating for the rest of the day. Oh yes, in the afternoon there is a confetti war in the streets, but mainly for the kids.

I am afraid my kids had a mother that was a bit reluctant to take part in all the festivities, but they had some cousins that would take them. Either you are a carnival family or not. Anyhow this morning when I got to work I was one of the first as the others were still running around in town in their white nightgowns. Eventually they came to work and my colleague who is a few years younger than me and did not participate in the fun, told me they would be coming to our company with the soup wagon and whether I wanted any. I am not keen on soup in the morning at nine o'clock, but found a few photos would be appropriate. Here is one of the soup wagon which is pulled along the road by a tractor.

This wagon tours around the village where I work and stops at the local companies in the industrial area where people fetch their soup. Needless to say our company did have a distinct soupy smell around in the office this morning.

As you can see there are five horns fixed to the wagon which they use to signalised that they have arrived. There are various carnival organisations and each has their own thing.

This organisation is known as the "Fedelio Zunft" and as long as I have been working in this village (28 years) they have come every year. This evening the carnival takes place in the various restaurants in our local town of Solothurn. They have been decorated and the beer will be flowing. Many groups singing satirical songs about local well known people, such as politicians and shop owners will be touring around the restaurants. There will also be drumming groups. There are some people in the company where I work that have taken the week off, as this carnival thing goes until Ash Wednesday - next week on Wednesday. I will be working as usual - as my Mr. Swiss says either you have it in the blood or not and if you don't grow up with it, you never will.

WEF - World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland

"The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas. Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. The World Economic Forum is under the supervision of the Swiss Federal Government."

That is what it is supposed to be about. To be quite honest I don't follow it that much. All I know is that quite a few well-known politicians and business men get together in a small town, Davos, in the Alps of Graubunden in Switzerland, eat a lot of super food, stay in 5 star hotels and have fun. Now and again they have a few conferences, but the public are not too happy about it as it seems to encourage that bad word used often today in politics known as "globalisation". I heard a programme on the radio where they interviewed the owner of a café in Davos. She said that she did have a different public visiting her restaurant at the moment. Mostly CIA look alikes and bodyguards. They were all armed with their mobile telephones which were ringing all the time and never had longer than five minutes for a coffee. Also English is at the moment the most spoken language in the restaurant. Otherwise the Swiss police have enough to do "looking after " the people demonstrating. Here is the latest news (translated by me - couldn't find anything in english)

"The demonstraters show words such as "Wipe out WEF" and carry flags with the words "Stop WEF". Speakers criticise the visit of Tony Blair and Henry Kissinger at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Both are warmongers.

Amongst the protestors are masked people. The police turned up in large numbers but did not intervene. The demonstration was organised by the "Union for global resistance".

As already a week ago, there were a few temporary arrests. According to the organisers 15 people were arrested, the police said 10. They were stopped because the police found cans of paint sprays and knives. A week ago 200 people were apprehended.

Now and again people were arrested in Basel. 60 people were arrested in the central part of the town because they were demonstrating in a meeting that had not been allowed. However there were no riots or damages.

People in Davos protested peacefully where the WEF was taking place. They demanded the cancellation of the meeting and a more fairer world. Colourful balloons and posters were in the order of the day. The police remained in the background. The demonstration was organised from the Davos environment friendly party. During the evening the younger members of the party set alight to 200 torches and ordered that the large companies their ecological and social responsibilities should be taken seriously.

In Zürich on Friday until midnight all 48 arrested were again released, after being arrested at a unallowed demonstration. They were accused of taking part at an unallowed demonstration"

So in a nutshell that is what had happened. Whilst the politicians were have fun in their hotels, the Swiss were demonstrating. To be quite honest the bloke that had the idea in the first place would have done better not having the idea. Switzerland is a place for skiing and enjoying after skiing in Winter, and not for having political conferences where everyone starts demonstrating. At least this year nothing was smashed up or fights developed. Anyhow next week our carnival season starts, so that will be something completely different - or is it?

I mean the people are masked there as well, and also do a lot of stupid things.

Photo taken by me at the Solothurner Fasnacht (carnival) 2007.