Basel autumn fair attracted over 1 million visitors

The 554th Basel autumn fair featured close to 470 travelling stalls at seven venues. Keystone-SDA

The Basel autumn fair, or Herbstmesse, saw record attendance, with more than a million visitors, city authorities said on Saturday. The fine weather likely had something to do with it.

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Switzerland’s biggest and oldest funfair opened a fortnight ago. This year’s 554th Basel autumn fair featured close to 470 travelling stalls at seven venues.

Thrill-seekers were treated to new attractions, including the Aeronaut, the highest flying chair carousel in the world at 85 metres above the ground, and a ghost roller coaster called Spuk.

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For a long time, the Basel autumn fair held the title of Switzerland’s oldest fair. In recent years, the Lucerne autumn fair has challenged this historical prestige by claiming 650 years of existence.

The Basel organisers have since relinquished their title, but now claim to be the country’s biggest and oldest funfair, the Lucerne fair having been a pure trade fair in its early days.

Translated from French with DeepL/gw

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