Zurich’s Sechseläuten spring parade has been cancelled owing to Covid-19 for the second year in a row, but the burning of the Böögg will this year go ahead – without spectators but with live television coverage.
This content was published on
1 minute
Keystone-SDA/ts
Português
pt
Boneco de neve de Zurique vai explodir pela televisão
The Böögg is a snowman-like effigy who represents the long winter months and whose head is packed with explosives. The time it takes for his head to explode predicts how long and warm summer will be – although not all meteorologists accept this.
More
More
They do what? Five frankly bizarre Swiss traditions
This content was published on
Christmas is coming, the goose is getting decapitated. Brace yourself for five of the weirder Swiss customs.
A possible location for the alternative Böögg immolation was currently being sought, the Central Committee of the Zurich Guilds said on Monday. The Sechseläutenplatz, where the event is traditionally held, was out of the question, the committee said.
The event could also be held outside canton Zurich, it added. Wherever it ends up taking place, the burning of the Böögg can be seen on April 19 at 6pm on Swiss public television, SRF.
More
More
A psychic exploding snowman? Welcome to Sechseläuten
This content was published on
SechseläutenExternal link has various roots. On the one hand it’s based on fire customs linked to the spring equinox, during which boys burnt self-made straw effigies around the city. On the other, members of guilds used to regulate working hours by ringing bells. In winter, craftsmen and traders would work until 5pm and in summer…
This content was published on
The traditional Zurich weather forecaster, an exploding stuffed snowman perched atop a blazing pyre, failed to set the traditional holiday crowds alight on Monday. The Böögg took a monotonous 20 minutes and 31 seconds for its head to explode – thus signaling a drab Swiss summer.
The Sechseläuten (or ‘Six Bells’) spring parade each year signals the burning of the Böögg – an effigy signifying the long winter months recently endured. Legend has it that the quicker the Böögg’s explosives-packed head takes to go off with a bang, the warmer and sunnier the summer will be.
Under drizzling grey skies on Monday, the process took a tediously long time. In fact, on only four occasions in the last decade has the Böögg taken longer to lose its head.
Last year’s result was altogether more satisfactory, both in terms of the speed at which the snowman exploded and the accuracy of its forecast. Last summer saw lots of sunshine and hot temperatures, just as the Böögg said it would, when its head detonated in under ten minutes.
This year, Zurich’s city trade guilds, resplendent as ever in traditional costumes and riding horses, were joined by guests from Basel and government minister Guy Parmelin and Ignazio Cassis.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
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.