I'm no stranger to small-town Swiss festivals -- I grew up next to New Glarus, Wisconsin, which had several festivals throughout the year celebrating its heritage as a settlement community for Swiss emigrants. It has been wonderful to delve into the real Swiss country-side and discover the festivals that bring the local residents together to celebrate their own history and heritage.
Several weeks ago we had the pleasure of journeying to the town of Hallau, near the German border of Switzerland. It was the 2nd weekend of their annual wine festival, and we were lucky to be there for their annual parade.
The parade had bands from all over the region and had a number of thematic floats sponsored by local civic clubs and associations. Some of my favorites included the St. Bernanrd's pulling carts. Also, something you wouldn't see in the United States, people walked along the parade route and handed out free glasses of the local wine to anyone who wanted to try it (not bad, I must say).
Another cool part of the parade was that most floats were pulled by old, nicely restored tractors -- a few American brands, but many others that were unfamiliar to me. Brownie points to any of you tractor afficianados out there if you can tell me something about the green tractor pictured in this post.
The boys had a good time as the festival featured a bunch of kids games, some killer bratwurst and a Kasperli show (puppet show). The town was beatifully decorated, with all the public fountains and fixtures covered with seasonal flowers.
Our next festival - the Rapperswil Turnip festival next weekend!
1 comment:
every day sounds even better than the one before it. thanks for sharing all of this!
love,
Susannahf
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