Fasnacht 2009

It's 3:00 a.m. on Monday morning, March 2nd, when the hotel Les Trois Roi calls to wake me up. Quickly I dress and head downstairs in the darkness, guided only by my flashlight. We gather at the bar for orange juice, coffee and croissant before heading out into the streets.

3:30 a.m. Streets are already crowded with people and there are few lights anywhere. Basel is in darkness. I move toward my favorite spots for observation--the square in front of city hall--but crowds there are too great, so I move a few blocks away. It is chilly and damp, but it is not raining.

4:00 The last lights are out. The bell tolls the hour....and immediately begin the eerie sounds of piccolos (fifes)and drums as the cliques of fasnacht begin their journey from all points around the city toward the center. The marchers are dressed in masks and costumes, but not necessarily matching at this point. Many are wearing masks and costumes from prior years. Most have small battery-lit lanterns on taheir heads, and some cliques feature larger lanterns carried on poles at the front of their entourage. Each group has a large battery or candle-lit "float" that is wheeled along with them. These floats are the focal point of their response to this year's theme.

4-7:00 a.m. For three hours these groups march and play their sombre tunes. It takes almost 45 minutes for the stalemates of too-large crowds begin to dispurse and make movement easier for them...and for viewers. Along the way, groups stop for refreshment, leaving their masks and drums and lanterns on the sidewalk. No one bothers them.

This is an eerie celebration...without drunkeness. There is something haunting about the music and inspiring about the commitment of the cliques to their task.

As dawn comes, many have moved to the traditional post morningstreich breakfast of kase torte and mehl suppe. But throughout the morning smaller remnants of the cliques will continue to parade throughout the town.

1:30 It is time for the first parade of the season. For this parade the cliques have donned this year's masks and costumes that are tied to the theme they have chosen to portray.

My favorite spot for this parade is in the center of the main bridge across the Rhine river. This way I can see groups coming from each direction. This parade has organized routes...at least at the beginning. It also includes brass bands who play gugge music and large floats drawn by tractors. On these floats clique members throw confetti, rtangerines, mimosa flowers, carrots, etc. to the crowds.

This parade goes on for hours. This year it mists and sometimes even rains. But the marchers continue on. I cannot tell you what the overall theme of this year's Fasnacht is. But the floats and interpretations are fascinating.

There are pigs, Einsteins, men with their pants falling down, Swiss bankers in gas masks, Scotsmen in kilts, chickens, wolves, middle eastern oil men, and a host of wagis and other more traditional masks. As they parade along, some pass out long sheets with a song or poem that explains their theme. This year's most amazing to me is the ku klux klan with a giant Obama leading the group.

As night falls, the groups begin to parade toward the cathedral square on the top of the hill. Here the lit floats will remain so that people can come and view them. Most are battery lit, but some still use the traditional candles.

This is day one. The celebration lasts three days, from 4 a.m. Monday to 4 a.m. Thursday. It is always one week after the traditional carnival and mardi gras celebrations around the world. Although it has common features with'Germany's fasching and the U.S. Mardi Gras, it is different. More solemn. More elaborate. More connected to today's politics. This was my eighth time to visit this celebration. I rarely see other Americans. This is a Swiss festival at its heart, and it is part of Basel year round as the Cliques prepare for it. Every time is better than the last.

Here's to Fasnacht 2010 which begins on February 22nd. See you there!