Basel Carnival - the somewhat different party

The Swiss say Basel's carnival is serious business. They're proud of their age-old customs, which differ in many ways from those of other carnival strongholds. The people of Basel don't celebrate their "drey scheenschte Dääg" (three most beautiful days) until the week after Ash Wednesday, when the fun is over for carnival-goers elsewhere.

With that call at four in the morning on Monday, the Morgestraich gets going. In complete darkness, participants make their way through the streets of Basel's city center with their lanterns. Drummers and pipers play march music that is both melancholy and festive to accompany their orderly and measured steps.

The hallmark of the Morgestraich are huge, four-meter tall lanterns. They're decorated with "sujets," topical political messages. Whether Trump, Merkel or Erdogan - no one is safe from the people of Basel. When UNESCO added the Basel carnival to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2017, it compared it to a huge satirical magazine.

Not only are the lanterns painted by hand; so are the "Larven," as Basel calls its masks. Carnival-goers spend almost half a year preparing for the spectacle. Many Fasnacht participants also sew their costumes themselves.

The Cortège is the climax of the three-day Basel carnival. During the main procession, people parade through Basel on foot, with colorfully decorated floats or carriages adorned with flowers. Everywhere there are trumpets and fifes, oranges and bonbons, while the participants make their rounds in their outlandish costumes.

If you want to celebrate Basel Carnival as an outsider, you should know that there are several dos and don'ts, unwritten laws that should be strictly obeyed: only moderate consumption of alcohol, bare skin is taboo, and only the participants wear costumes, not the spectators.

Fasnacht badges or "Blaggedde", newly designed every year in copper, silver or gold, are on sale and serve more or less as admission tickets. For spectators in Basel it's a point of honor to buy one, to support the carnival groups. If you're caught without a badge, you might be subjected to a "Räppli" attack. "Räppli" is the local name for round pieces of paper confetti.

Only single-colored Räppli are thrown. Multi-colored confetti is frowned upon. Some local historians say throwing confetti - in the 19th century, sweets in the form of small balls of sugar - originated in Basel. While there is no proof of that, more confetti is thrown in Basel than in Mainz or Cologne, the heartlands of the German carnival tradition.

The rhythmic cacophony of Basel carnival's music is also distinctive. The brass bands in particular, with their trumpets, trombones, clarinets and drums, heighten the mood. In 1874, when the first brass band marched on the occasion, there were protests against the din. Now Gugge music is an integral component of Fasnacht.

Chubby cheeks, pointed chins and noses and enormous decorated hats: at Fasnacht you can meet all sorts of bizarre beings - like the Alti Dante - literally "old aunts" - old maids who hand out sweets and "Mimösli," as the locals loving call their carnival flowers. The figures, which caricature upper-class women, came to prominence in the 19th century.

The most popular costume at Basel's carnival is the Waggis, a caricature of Alsation farmers, recognizable by his huge nose. His most important instrument is his voice, with which he loudly teases and taunts spectators. The red nose, which over the years has increased in size, alludes to his excessive consumption of wine. The Waggis is so popular that he even adorns the buttons on some jackets.

In the evening in traditional pubs and restaurants, the Schnitzelbänkler come into their own. In the tradition of the Bänkelsänger, or balladeers - who always stood on wooden benches (Bänke) - men and women satirize politicians and society with wittily rhymed verses in Basel dialect. The Schnitzelbänkler with their musical accompaniment could be termed the court jesters of Basel Carnival.

Every year more than 11,000 carnival participants march through Basel playing pipes and drums, including nearly 1800 children. They can be recognized only by their size, because, like all the others, they are hidden behind their masks. Boys and girls can join a Clique, as the carnival groups are called, at the tender age of six, so some of them have already taken part nearly all their lives.

With the accuracy of Swiss clockwork, exactly 72 hours after it began, Basel's carnival comes to an end. On Thursday just before 4 a.m., the Cliques, groups and Gugge musicians gather for a final time to play out Frau Fasnacht with their pipes and drums - until next year.