Swiss National Costume Festival opens with colourful fanfare in Zurich

Keystone/Ennio Leanza

The Swiss National Costume Festival 2024 kicked off on Friday at noon at Zurich's main train station. In total, 100,000 visitors from all over Switzerland are expected to attend by Sunday. 

Over the festival’s three days, traditional costumed people and city dwellers as well as tourists from all over the world will come together in Zurich, said organising committee president Max Binder. In his short welcoming speech, he wished everyone a “cheerful, colourful and cosy festival”.  

Denise Hintermann, president of the Swiss Traditional Costume Association, spoke to the crowd about a “harmonious bond and a feeling of togetherness”. Maintaining traditions is not about preserving ashes, she said, but about keeping the flames going. And this particular flame should burn brightly until Sunday, as the festival programme includes one highlight after another.  

Posing in Zurich Keystone / Ennio Leanza

A musical start  

To mark the official start of the festival, Zurich’s city music band and tambourines played in the bustling, pulsating hall of Zurich’s main train station – starting, of course, with the Sechseläuten March.  

+ National costumes show Switzerland’s diversity

Following the two short speeches, the parade, which included 26 pairs of traditional costumes from all 26 cantons, marched from the station to St Peter’s Church. The opening procession also passed the 13-metre maypole on Bahnhofstrasse, which has heralded the traditional major event since mid-May.  

Five festival sites, seven free stages  

The festival is a considerable undertaking: the organising committee estimates the budget at around CHF4.5 million ($5 million). There will be five different festival sites at Münsterhof, Lindenhof, Bürkliplatz, Sechseläutenplatz and in the hall of the main station. There are also seven free stages.  

The organisers have announced that the National Costume Festival in Zurich will offer three days of music and tradition to experience, enjoy and participate in. It is also intended to be a “hands-on festival” – for example, anyone interested can practise flag-waving or “chlefele” (a kind of wooden handheld instrument) at Bürkliplatz.  

The city of Zurich is hosting the festival, which takes place every 12 years, for the third time after 1939 and 1974. One of the many highlights of the event is the big parade on Sunday. However, the focus is also on cultural exchange at the various festival sites throughout the event.  

Adapted from German by DeepL/kc/ts

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