Sunday, February 21, 2010

Fasnacht 2010

Fasnacht (or the Swiss German version of Mardi Gras) is something we've only come to know since living in the Swiss German part of Switzerland. The celebration does not always land on Fat Tuesday, but actually depends on the community where you are living. Wädenswil celebrated it this weekend, with loads of parties and parades. We went to the main parade today. I don't quite understand the whole tradition, but it has evolved into a sort of Halloween, where the children dress up in crazy costumes to celebrate. In fact, everyone is dressed in crazy costumes and everyone throws lots of confetti.

Daddy at the parade with his girls. (Tyler is asleep in the back.) Fortunately, it was a beautiful, sunny day.


The funniest part of the parade were the people dressed up as politicians. I didn't get all the inside Swiss jokes, but I know that they actually paradied some of people running for the local town counsel. (They were easy to recognize because their pictures have been plastered all over town.)

Some of the bands had hilarious costumes. These guys looked like Care Bears.

The cowbell ringers are a tradition, but they were so loud that Anna and Mariah plugged their ears while they passed.

The girls liked this band the best. They all were wearing king and queen masks (with holes in the mouths for those who played the wind instruments.

Back at the house taking a break on the swings.

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