Some 30 tons of onions were sold on Monday, which is an improvement on last year but around half the amount sold in the record year of 2014.
The festival features decorated braids of onions, mulled wine and garlic bread for visitors. The onion festival traces its roots back to the 15th Century.
Legend has it that in 1405 people from Fribourg came to help the citizens of Bern rebuild the city after it burnt down. As a result, the Fribourgeois were given the opportunity to sell their onions at Bern’s markets.
The festival took off in 1860 when farmers from the surrounding region came to sell not just onions, but fruits and vegetables in Bern.
Police reported that this year’s Zibelmärit passed without serious incident.
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Bern gets to know its onions
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On sale in the stalls that line the narrow streets and spread over the squares of the Old City are not only elaborate strings of onions and onions made into whimsical figures of all sorts, but garlic bread, and onion and cheese tarts, as well as more general items. The market opens officially at six in…
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Bern gets to know its onions
This content was published on
On sale in the stalls that line the narrow streets and spread over the squares of the Old City are not only elaborate strings of onions and onions made into whimsical figures of all sorts, but garlic bread, and onion and cheese tarts, as well as more general items. The market opens officially at six in…
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Every year on the fourth Monday in November, people flock to the City of Bern for the famous “Zibelemärit” onion market. From the early hours of the morning, till late at night, the traditional folk festival celebrates onions in every form and size.
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It is one of the biggest annual markets in Switzerland and the people who bring their colourfully braided onions have spent months preparing for the big day. There are onions disguised as gentlemen in smoking jackets, as alarm clocks, and there are even onion Mickey Mouses. But of the hundreds of market stalls crowded into…
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The historic event, which, according to local legend, dates from 1405, is held annually on the fourth Monday of November and kicks off at dawn. This year around 54 tons of onions made it to market, many of them destined to end up in soups and garlands. There were also, of course, the ubiquitous onion…
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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.