On a perfect spring day in Zurich, the entire community turned out to watch the Sechselaueten parade and find out what kind of summer to expect by watching the snowman (Boeoegg) burn. Tages Anzeiger reports that "Nach 10 Minuten 56 Sekunden ist der Kopf des Bööggs explodiert. Die Zürcherinnen und Zürcher dürfen auf einen schönen Sommer hoffen".
In other words we can expect beaut weather. Problem is last year we were promised the same ... but to be honest there was good weather and there was bad weather. Rain all the way through the summer school holidays then beautiful as soon as the kids all went back to school.
This year the parade outdid itself but the perfect sunny day showing Zurich to perfection was in large part responsible for the most colourful parade since we arrived. We don't even want to imagine how much was spent on flowers today in Zurich - a feature of the parade is that all the marchers are given bunches of flowers, the favourite ones MASSES of flowers not just bunches and half the headgear featured real flowers too. From memory the stats go something like 3,500 marchers, 350 horses, 50 horse drawn floats and 30 marching bands.
We never get tired of this parade and it is one of the things I will miss most when I leave here. And now there is another reason to celebrate this festival. According to Swissinfo:
"Zurich’s spring festival, the Sechseläuten, has long been the preserve of the city’s all-male guilds. This year, for the first time ever, women have been invited. The Fraumünster Association (Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster) has been fighting for 22 years to be able to process alongside the men. But the battle is not over yet". Apparently this was a one-off special and women will have to continue the crusade to be invited back again next year.
One not so welcome effect of the stunning weather was the number of very red faces by the end of the 2 hour parade. I think a few people will not be at work tomorrow as they nurse badly sunburned faces. A "Slip slop slap" campaign is probably long overdue in der Schweiz.
In other words we can expect beaut weather. Problem is last year we were promised the same ... but to be honest there was good weather and there was bad weather. Rain all the way through the summer school holidays then beautiful as soon as the kids all went back to school.
This year the parade outdid itself but the perfect sunny day showing Zurich to perfection was in large part responsible for the most colourful parade since we arrived. We don't even want to imagine how much was spent on flowers today in Zurich - a feature of the parade is that all the marchers are given bunches of flowers, the favourite ones MASSES of flowers not just bunches and half the headgear featured real flowers too. From memory the stats go something like 3,500 marchers, 350 horses, 50 horse drawn floats and 30 marching bands.
We never get tired of this parade and it is one of the things I will miss most when I leave here. And now there is another reason to celebrate this festival. According to Swissinfo:
"Zurich’s spring festival, the Sechseläuten, has long been the preserve of the city’s all-male guilds. This year, for the first time ever, women have been invited. The Fraumünster Association (Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster) has been fighting for 22 years to be able to process alongside the men. But the battle is not over yet". Apparently this was a one-off special and women will have to continue the crusade to be invited back again next year.
One not so welcome effect of the stunning weather was the number of very red faces by the end of the 2 hour parade. I think a few people will not be at work tomorrow as they nurse badly sunburned faces. A "Slip slop slap" campaign is probably long overdue in der Schweiz.
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