The real Fastnacht

Last week was the real Fastnacht celebrations in Basel. We got up at 3 o'clock in the morning to see the Morgestreich parade on Monday. They turn all the lights out at 4am, then the Fastnacht music starts and people walk through the town with amazing painted lanterns and masks. I loved getting up and catching the tram into town in the middle of the night. And I loved all the noise and scary-looking costumes.

On Tuesday it was the kids' day, all the kids get dressed up and throw confetti. Parades go past with people in fancy costumes playing music. Special clown sort of people (called Waggis) throw out lollies and toys from their wagons.

Here I am scoring something yummy!

Actually the celebrations have special meanings. There are different kinds of traditional costumes that are for different kinds of characters. The lanterns are all decorated to make a kind of joke that the people who live here understand. It might be about teasing the government or a famous person, or talking about something that has happened recently. They make up special poems about it too and hand them out during the parades. Mama and Dada and I don't understand much of it, but it was lots of fun to watch anyway. I can't wait until next Fastnacht and keep asking Mama if they really do have one every year.