Oh Brother
If you think the Swiss are buttoned up, think again. Come to the gorgeous mediaeval city of Lucerne in Switzerland during Carnival. Set your alarm for 04.30 on Schmutzigen Donnerstag, Dirty Thursday, and follow the thousands heading to the lake.
On the dot of 05.00, a colossal chest-thumping window-rattling Big Bang marks the arrival by boat of Brother Fritschi and his family who make their way to the Fritschi Fountain in Kapellplatz where Narr, The Jester, taunts the multitude with cries of “Brüele”, just like Freddy Mercury strutting his “Deo” at Live Aid, getting louder and louder, spinning it out with “Brüüüüeellä”! as he pelts the crowd with oranges and sweets while millions of pieces of paper from shredded phone books (remember them?) shower down. Bruder, Frau Fritschi and all the little Fritschis symbolize the city’s guilds’ benevolence to the poor. Still think the Swiss are buttoned up?
Start Me Up
Now the Lucerne Carnival has officially started the Guggenmusig can strike up; not drum ‘n bass but drums and brass, dozens of bands; drums on wheels, brass on foot, each player buried behind and beneath fantastical costumes, not missing a beat as they thunder raucously down the narrow thoroughfares and alleys, band after band, converging on the Town Hall where admittance is for the great and good only.
A time check, only 07.30 and still dark. I joined the privileged few for breakfast, the magnificent Renaissance room echoing to drumbeats with the counterpoint of tuba, trombone, and trumpets. The drink is taken, not much of it coffee truth be told, setting the habit for the rest of the carnival.
Horrible History
Locals dub Carnival the Fifth Season. The Catholic Church of the Middle Ages controlled the populace severely, so, at Lent, citizens took the chance to finish up food stocks and indulge before the self-sacrifice and fasting began. Mix this memory with centuries of myth, true events and folklore, like the city’s victory in 1446 in the Old Zurich War, and the Celtic custom of driving away malevolent winter hobgoblins with ghastly masks, loud noise and grotesque costumes.
Luzerners spend months creating their outfits which leave nothing to the imagination. Integral to the carnival, and a Swiss institution, the Guggen bands are led by a conductor, and their identity is linked to the workplace or community. Players must be able to play and march while toting headpieces the size of deep-sea diver’s helmets. Drummers, kits on wheels, lead the way, followed by their brass buddies bashing out Hits from the Seventies; Night Fever, Brown Sugar, Mamma Mia, etc., impossible not to dance to.
Band of Brothers…and Sisters
The standout among the dozens of bands is the Moles, aka Monster-Gugger Bueri, all hi-tech tunnellers whose day jobs are boring holes through mountains. Their president, Dario Egger, leads them through 15 performances during the madness of the Fastnacht. They typify the tight-knit community of people who work and play hard together. Under their whiskery mole masks, the average age is mid-twenty.
24 Hour Party People
By now pale wintery morning had dawned over the city of Lucerne. Let the party begin. Each and every street has food and drink stalls offering kaffeschnapps, glühwein, bier, würstchen, and curry. I see goblins, grotesques, space men and women, giant rats, horned figures, a woman frozen in the act of taking a selfie, huge bears, wizards, clowns, Kings and Queens, a mocking paparazzo, fairy-tale figures, massive lizards, all moving to the inexorable Guggen drumbeat. The human stream jostles through the centuries-old streets that have witnessed this so many times before.
All is jolly, much alcohol is taken, and everyone is happy. Pop-up stalls offer free booze and food, “Pay if you want”. Time is irrelevant. Bands mount scaffold stages on corners and do their stint. I’m reminded of Fleetwood Mac’s magnificent ‘Tusk’ recorded in the Dodgers stadium with 112 members of the University of Southern California’s marching band in full regalia with gold lame boots and red Trojan helmets. Any one of these Guggen bands could hold their own with them.
Luzerners – bank managers, shop assistants, IT designers, doughnut makers, the Town Clerk, young mothers, art gallery curators, the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker; any and all could be passing before me completely disguised and safe in this demented escape from their everyday lives, revelling in the release.
Top Up Time
The energy level of the city of Lucerne is high now, like the Mallory battery bunny it seems able to go on and on, but proper food is necessary and I head for Le Lapin, a traditional Swiss restaurant booked weeks ago by my lovely city guide Heidi Muffler. “Our table was reserved long since,” she says. Heidi has learned to pace herself over the six days of the Fastnacht. “Carnival runs from the Thursday to Tuesday before Ash Wednesday – February 27th – March 4th this year.
From there, it’s party, party, party, throughout the day and into the following week with the finale on Shrove Tuesday. On Monday – Fat Monday – the city rests, then reawakens in the afternoon to a second noisy colourful parade in the old city until midnight. When Ash Wednesday dawns silence and restraint returns.” Phew! One day is going to be enough for me. These Luzerners are made of tough stuff…but so am I.
The Wee Small Hours
The bands played on, the food and drink continued to flow (no unseemly behaviour anywhere) and, as night drew in, each square, and each alley was filled with music and dancing. My pal and I found a side street where a sublime jazz jam session was going on; then, in the wee small hours of the morning, fought our way into a seedy basement bar through a haze of ‘Benson & Hendrix’ and finished off our own Lucerne Carnival to the sound of some Swiss reggae. The time? 04:00…twenty-three and a half hours after waking up.
Getting There: Lucerne is about an hour from Zürich airport by train, the most efficient way to get there. Download the SBB mobile app to get train times, buy tickets, manage your itinerary, and more.
For more information on Lucerne Tourism see online. For more information on Switzerland Tourism see online. The Lucerne Carnival runs from February 27th – March 4th 2025.
