6si Läuten

The Swiss, well actually I think its only the guys from Zurich have a funny tradition:
Sechseläuten

It stems from the tradition of driving out evil winter spirits and welcoming the longer, milder days of spring. On Sechselaeuten-Monday, some 3,500 colourfully-costumed guildsmen, over 350 horsemen, 50 horse-drawn wagons and around 30 bands parade through Zurich to the Sechselaeutenplatz for the burning of the Boegg, a straw effigy atop a 13-metre high bonfire.

The procession to the bonfire is a huge spectacle and attracts thousands of spectators. The bonfire is lit at precisely six o'clock in the evening and horsemen then circle the blaze three times to the accompaniment of the Sechselaeuten March. Tradition says that the faster the Boegg burns, the sooner summer will arrive and the longer and sunnier it will be. The date of Sechselaeuten varies but is usually held in April.

So it is a big holiday here in Zurich area and all operation theatres were closed by noon and we were allowed to leave and we hit the town...
The parade was uummmh: "interessting"- we expected a cheerful spectatcle and were a bit stunned that everything was so quite. Not because there were no people. They were thousands! But all of them just seemed to enjoy the parade silently... No shouting, no fun, no samba rhythms, hardly a smile ;-)
It change when the Böög was set on fire... everybody was excited and the clapped there hands when the snowmans head exploded- referring to that custom the summer 2006 will be a great one! We enjoyed a bottle of sparkling wine afterwards at the nice zurich lake