a well-organized Spring Festival of Zurich
Sechseläuten is a mouthful name. It’s the name of Zurich’s spring festival. It is held on the 3rd Monday of April and the climax of the festival is the burning (or almost blowing up) of the snowman figure called Böögg (photo 3 and 4). It seems natural to ‘drive out’ the snowman in order to welcome Spring. The legend has it that the sooner the fire reaches the snowman from the pyre, the longer and hotter the summer is going to be. Before the burning of Boogg, there is a several-hour-long parade of guilds in the main avenue of the city, where you can see colorful classical costumes and the smiles of those who are wearing them. And if you’re lucky, you can catch a piece of bread or other goodies that they throw at the crowd, or if you’re unlucky, you’ll be hit by them.
I was excited about this festival because one expat friend wrote, “this is as wild as Zurich gets.” Since entering the country, I constantly had the impression that ‘things work pretty much by the book’ here – very reliable timetables of public transport, orderly put garbage on the ground when the garbage can is full, and clearly numbered street parking spaces, etc. I admit that my understanding of this country is highly limited, but I feel that the trust in human rational planning is stronger here. As a person who’s interested in the uncertainties of the world and limits of rational thinking, I was wondering whether the Swiss are not enthusiastic about promoting the emotional or often irrational nature of humans, which I think is essential for our lives and dealing with ever more uncertain future.
I’ve been to several carnivals in Latin countries, but the parade of Sechseläuten was by far the best one, in terms of elegance and organization. The visual beauty of the costumes and the formations were very enjoyable, and the streets were safe and clean (it was not very much so in my other experiences). After the snowman disappeared, the pyre kept burning for many more hours in the evening. People gathered around the fire and made private bonfire grills with some of the charcoal from the main pyre. In terms of efforts, space, and comfort, having grilled sausages out there must be a worse experience than having them at home or restaurants. So it was sweet to see that the whole city, as it appeared to me, came out with heavy bags of picnic stuff just to enjoy one sausage or two with friends and with the rest of the city. It seemed like the old days when we did more communal activities.
Overall, I enjoyed the festival and I actually appreciated the attentive planning of it and the strong sense of responsibility in getting one’s job done as expected. Sometimes, the ‘by the book’ mindset with little slack captures my attention, but I do realize that fulfilling one’s responsibility correctly has many benefits and lays the foundation of trust in society.
@ Sechselauten Festival, Zurich, Switzerland, April 8, 2019
