Wey parade delights 70,000 carnival fans in Lucerne

Wey parade delights 70,000 carnival fans in Lucerne Keystone-SDA

The parade of the jubilant Wey guild received an enthusiastic reception from the carnival crowd in Lucerne on Monday. Police estimated that 70,000 people watched the colourful parade through the city in bright sunshine.

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The carnival in the Swiss city of Lucerne entered its second round at 6am on “Güdis Monday”: around 5,000 people took part in the Wey guild’s daytime vigil, according to Lucerne police. At Kapellplatz, revellers listened to the musicians marching past and tried to catch the oranges thrown into the crowd.

According to the police, around 100,000 carnival revellers were in the city in the afternoon during the Wey parade, 70,000 of whom followed the procession with its 45 official numbers, which made its way from the Luzernerhof across the Seebrücke to the Neustadt. Thanks to the sunny and dry weather, the parade attracted significantly more people than the largely identical Fritschi parade on Dirty Thursday, which was attended by 26,000 people in cloudy weather.

+ Lucerne Carnival opens with traditional ‘big bang’

Artificial intelligence as a major theme

The parade kicked off with the frog, the heraldic animal of the Wey guild. This was followed by various floats, individual masks and many “Guuggen” musicians.

The parade acts created a cheerful atmosphere and spontaneous applause at the roadside, such as the Hügü-Schränzer, who appeared in brightly coloured costumes of Globi, Mickey Mouse and other comic and toy characters.

The Wey guild handed out sweet cola frogs to the youngest members of the audience and gave them the carnival magazine Knallfrosch. Compared to previous years, there were fewer political themes, but artificial intelligence (AI) was a topic for several groups. The Bueri-Chessler presented a robot laboratory on their float.

Güdis Monday is the Wey guild’s day of honour. The guild is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. It was founded in 1925 because the carnival tradition in the city was in danger of dying out. The business people from the Wey quarter managed to revive the Fifth Season.

Increased security measures

This year, security measures surrounding the carnival were stepped up. Among other things, 70 large sacks filled with earth were placed in the city. They serve as mobile roadblocks. In addition, the flow of people was controlled and monitored with measurements and cameras.

Fasnacht 2025 comes to an end in Lucerne on the night of Ash Wednesday. On Tuesday evening, the Guuggen musicians will march through the city for the last time on the Monstercorso.

Next year, Lucerne Fasnacht will begin a little earlier than this year, on February 12.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

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