Fasnacht & Fire: The Swiss Must Be Crazy

Hello All! Well, its been a week since our last post and we have some new pictures to share. My birthday was so much fun. We had originally planned to go away for a weekend but instead opted to stay in the Liestal area because it Fasnacht Season! Fasnacht is an interesting festival....and no one could actually tell us what it was about so I did some research. Fasnacht is an ancient tradition dating back to before the 1300's! It is a masked carnival with many marching bands and colourful costumes. The festival originally started as a day(s) of indulgence before Lent. Besides colourful parades in the afternoon, there is also the infamous Bonfire Parade, where burning wagons are pulled through the town center, with sparks flying everywhere. It was definitely a blast to be in the crowd...and actually a bit scary.....you will see why:
A Lot of people came out for the afternoon parade....it was hard to find a place to stand.

One of the Many musical groups.
These confetti 'guns' were awesome, they blew tons of confetti over the whole crowd. After the parade the streets were literally packed with confetti.
The costumes had amazing detail and were all hand made. Some of them were pretty scary, actually.
One of the marching bends dressed as old-school pilots.
This how this parade works: there are candy and flowers and oranges, and beer for free BUT you have to go up to the edge of the float to get anything. And if you are brave enough to do so, it is likely you will get "Confettied". This is a man getting completely covered...it was hilarious.
This is right before the parade. Ben took a timed exposure of the street. You can see all of the confetti on the ground too.
This is one of the traditions: individuals carrying a bundle of wood on fire. It seemed sort of dangerous...the sparks and flames were right next to their head! Everyonce in a while someone would stop, throw off their helmet and dance around wildly until one of the firemen doused them with water.
A group carrying the wood-bundles.
One of many burning wagons pulled by men
This picture shows the street a bit more lit up.
The flames were so big on some of the wagons and as they were pulled through the streets it was very hot for the spectators! The first wagon that went by us they somehow kept veering closer and closer to the crowd. When it went by us the flames were literally a foot away and we had to turn and push our way into the crowd behind us. You could smell our jackets getting singed! After that, the wagons kept more to the centre of the street thankfully.
One year, the flames were so big that some buildings were scorched. I can see why...
Well, it was fun time and great birthday celebration! A day to never forget. Hope you are all doing well, Tschuss!