Thousands of revellers have attended the opening of the carnival season in predominantly Catholic regions of the country.
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An estimated 12,000 people in colourful costumes filled the streets of Lucerne city in the early hours of the morning to witness the Big Blast – the traditional signal for the six-day festival.
Major carnivals, including pageants and cacophonous music, are also underway in St Gallen, Solothurn and the Italian-speaking city of Bellinzona.
In mainly Protestant regions, including the capital Bern, the annual event will be launched next week.
Revellers in Basel will have to wait until the beginning of March for what they call “the most beautiful days of the year”.
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The different language regions have different names for the pre-Lenten festivities and Roman Catholic and Protestant areas tend to have different styles. But the clownish essence of the event is the same all over the country. The biggest festivities take place in German-speaking areas, where the wacky carryings-on go by the name of fasnacht (fast…
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What are known as the “three most beautiful days of the year” began at 4am on Monday morning. Hundreds of colourfully costumed drummers and pipers crammed the streets and alleys. Basel Fasnacht is famous for its large lanterns illustrated with cartoons lampooning events and people who made the headlines over the past year (pictures and…
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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.