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Category Archives: Traditions
The Sechseläuten
Celebrated on the 3rd weekend of April, the Sechseläuten is a spring festival in canton Zurich. It is a goodbye to the cold winter days and a welcome to the warmer season of summer.
Beginning on Sunday afternoon at 14:30 (since 1896), it’s the children’s parade day, where the children (between 5 and 15 years old) walk around in Zurich city dressed up in their own country’s historic and cultural clothing. They also bring things that represent their culture, for example the children from China bring a huge dragon or the children from Peru bring their lamas. As for Zurich, 900 years worth of Swiss clothing is portrayed. About 2,000 to 3,000 kids take part each year with over 800 musicians to accompany them. The most common piece of music that you would hear is the instrumental song called Sechseläutenmarsch, which is the unofficial anthem of canton Zurich, specially played on Sechseläuten. This parade takes about 50 minutes.
The actual Sechseläute parade (since the 18th century) takes place on Monday starting in the afternoon at 15:00. The highlight of the parade is to burn a snowman (symbolizing winter) filled with firecrackers, called the böögg (kind of like a bogey). Over 3,500 guilds walk through Zurich in colorful historic and cultural costumes with their invited honorable guests, giving away flowers to the watching crowd. There are over 350 equestrians and around 50 carts drawn by horses accompanied by musicians. They all move towards the place (Sechseläutenplatz) where the böögg will be burned.
When the clock strikes 18:00, it’s time for the highlight. The pyre under the böögg is set on fire. A huge bonfire with lots of explosions takes place. The equestrian guilds ride with their horses three times around the fire. It is said the faster the böögg loses his head, the more beautiful the upcoming summer would be.
After 22:00, hundreds of people come with their shovel and take a bit of the burned ash from the hot wood pile and barbecue their own brought meat over it.
Written by: Momo Ritschard
To Mothers All Over the World
Mother’s Day is an event that is celebrated to honour, love and respect our mothers globally. It is usually celebrated on the second Sunday of the month May. Although in many countries it is celebrated in Ferbruary, March and April as well.
A Mother is that woman who gives birth to us, raises us, listens to us, smiles at us and tells us that it is okay every time there is something wrong; gives us breakfast, makes dinner for us, listens to us when we yell at her telling her that we want something better to eat, pats our backs when we don’t get the first place in our class and tells us that we did great anyway, buys good clothes for us. In short she is always there for us and wants what is best for us because she knows us more than anyone else in this world.
Without moms we would be nothing. She is our best friend when we need one. She is a good listener when we need someone to talk to. She has our back when other people stab it. She is one in a million.
A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people,
promptly announces she never did care for pie. ~Tenneva Jordan
To mothers all over the world: Happy Mother’s Day! You deserve not just one day but all 365 days of our lives. Because you dedicate yours to your children.
To mothers all over the world: May you all smile because your children give you reasons to. Just like you give us a reason to smile each time we look at you and are relieved that you are there.
To mothers all over the world: Thank you. 
Written by: Amna Javed
