Basler Fasnacht - Morgestraich

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About Basler Fasnacht - Morgestraich

The Morgestraich on Monday morning marks the beginning of the Carnival in Basel. At exactly 4am all the lights in the old town of Basel are turned off and the Industrielle Werke Basel (the Industrial Works of Basel are the public utility organisation of the city) shuts down the streetlights. The only light remaining comes from the lanterns of the Cliques. There are two major types of lanterns, the large Zugslaterne (parade lanterns) that are wheel-mounted or carried by 2 to 4 people in front of the Cliques; and the head-mounted Kopflaterne (head lanterns) that every participant wears. Some Cliques have uniform Kopflaterne as traditionally on Morgestraich nobody wears uniform costumes.

With the command "Morgestraich, vorwärts marsch!" ("Morgestraich, forward march!") from the drum majors, all Cliques begin to march and play their instruments. No Guggenmusik is played during Morgestraich.

From 4am on Monday, many restaurants and bars in the old town open their doors and remain open for the following 72 hours. There it is possible to sample traditional Basler carnival specialities, such as flour soup, Zwiebelkuchen and Käsewähe (a quiche-like baked dish).

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgestraich#Morgestraich

For more information on the Basler Fasnacht see:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basler_Fasnacht