Religious holiday ‘dance ban’ lifted by Swiss canton

Cultural events are now allowed at Easter and Christmas Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Activities such as dancing and sport will now be permitted on key religious dates in the Swiss canton of Thurgau as voters narrowly approved a relaxation of local laws.

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This means that cultural and sporting events will now also be permitted in Thurgau on the five most important religious holidays. The condition is that they take place indoors with no more than 500 participants.

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Thurgau voters approved the lifting of the so-called dance ban with 45,982 votes in favour (51.1%) to 43,964 against (48.9%). Voter turnout was 52.1%.

Until now, Thurgau had a general ban on non-religious events such as public sporting, dance, cultural, and concert events on Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Whitsun and Christmas Day.

Some political parties launched a referendum against a decision by the local authorities to lift this restriction – which meant voters had to decide on the matter on Sunday.

Translated from German with DeepL/mga

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