Lucerne Carnival starts with a bang at 5am. A boat brings "Fritschi", a traditional figure, and his family to the city
Keystone
Fritschi (centre) waves to the crowds
Keystone
The Fool, part of Frtischi's entourage, enjoying the confetti parade
Keystone
Keystone
Keystone
One of the many "Guggemuusige", masked brass bands which play well-known tunes loudly and often slightly out of tune
Keystone
Not everyone comes as a traditional Swiss character
Keystone
Keystone
The narrow cobbled alleys of Lucerne burst into life at 5am on so-called Dirty Thursday, with around 16,000 revellers and onlookers – many of them in masked costumes – celebrating the start of Fasnacht, or carnival. (Keystone, Urs Flüeler)
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Urs Flüeler, Keystone, swissinfo.ch
A look at some of the action from this year’s parade.
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You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.