Basel Fasnacht 2009

Basel is the home of the largest carnival festival in Switzerland – BASEL FASNACHT! The festivities begin at 4am Monday morning and continue for three days. I wouldn’t dare to miss such an event, at such a time. Sunday evening, after dinner and many drinks….3:30am finally arrived….thousands of people filled the streets of Basel and at exactly 4am EVERY light in the city went out! And the piccolos started to hum and the drums began to beat…and the parades began. The only lights in the city were those lanterns sitting on the heads of the masks and the uniquely painted and themed lantern canvases held high in the air, leading each groups marching beat. Absolutely one of the coolest sites I have ever seen…and one of the most incredible cultural festivals I have ever been a part of….each mask distinctive in designed…tradition flowed through the streets like the lanterns in the air. 10am tiptoed in quickly…and daylight brought us out of the mystic and to the trains homebound…

Link to photo gallery of Basel Fasnacht, Greifensee, and Rapperswil:
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=258611471/a=156758901_156758901/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish