Fat Tuesday a year ago: Luzerne Fasnach (Carnival)

A couple movies from a year ago, when on Fat Tuesday I dragged the kids for a couple of hours to the Carnival in Luzerne, an hour's drive by train from Zurich. The catholic cantons (states) of Switzerland have Carnival, the big and loud celebration before the fasting before Easter begins. (The protestant cantons don't have it.) In Luzerne and elsewhere, Guggenmusic bands converge on cities and play loud and off-key music. Confetti is everywhere, even on the ground - very unswiss normally. People who watch all the show dress up too. There are some parades, but the guggenmusic groups also just randomly go through the streets. I nearly got run over a couple times by the head maestro of one of these groups, charging through the crowd - with the stroller, it was difficult to get out of the way fast.

Here is one of the groups. Some were dressed fancy. Some were dressed like aliens. Anything went, though each group had a unifying these. These guys...? I don't know what the heck they are:


And here is how the area looked like: onlookers were also dressed up, kids played in the streets (not very good movie, but somehow I like it, so here it is: random shots during Luzerne Fasnacht):



For fat tuesday / pancake tuesday, we have missed the pancakes at Eloise and Kevin's for the past who knows how many years, since they have moved way down south. E+K,Hope you're doing well! Sorry we missed yet another pancake tuesday at your place! When you were apparently doing this several weeks ago:

I was doing this (in Eloise's carharrt suit): taking the dogs for a walk at 40 below. The dog that was loose did not cooperate for the picture.