Traditions Of Switzerland
Like every other country in the world, Switzerland too has its traditions that the locals follow. Of course, many traditions of Switzerland also become tourist attractions, and tourists flock to these celebrations and festivities. One such tradition of Switzerland is Hornussen, which is an ancient sport. |
This sport of the 17th century is a combination of golf and hockey and is generally played in the rural regions between two villages.หThe first day of August marks the Swiss National Day. As part of tradition, incredible fireworks with a monetary value millions of francs can be seen in the horizon. This day symbolizes the unification of three cantons namely; Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden and their conviction of attaining autonomy from foreign powers.
A very innovative tradition of the country is the celebration of the carnival. The attractions of this carnival are parades having children and adults in the guise of animals, stars, monsters or anything else they desire. The participants in the parade play varied musical instruments that include drums, clarinet, flute and trumpet. Sweets are thrown at the audience. At times, people dressed as clowns actually pick up members of the audience and plunge them in a bathtub with the confetti.
‘Six o'clock ringing’ is the literal significance of one of the oldest holidays in Zurich. This festival is celebrated one week after Easter denoting the end of winters. The streets of Zurich are lined with members of local guilds parading in historical costumes escorted by marching bands. The convoy finally halts at a large bonfire with sculpt of a snowman on top, whose head is packed with explosive materials. The snowman explodes into pieces as soon as the flames touch the head. As per traditional belief, the time elapsed between lighting of the fire and the snowman’s head exploding, designates the well being of the summer season.
The ‘Three King's Day’ is another very fascinating tradition of Switzerland. The day prior to this celebration, all bakeries are stocked well with three kings' cakes, which are actually sweet buns or teacakes containing sultanas. Each cake contains a number of pieces with a tiny plastic king in one of them. The lucky person who gets the king is crowned, and is designated as the boss of the house for the day!
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