Sechseläuten – A guide to Zurich’s spring festival (English)

Beschreibung

For one weekend in April, Zurich becomes very different to how you may know it. The shops close and the trams stop running. Filling the city’s streets are men, some in suits and top hats, others clad in aprons or carrying lances. Women walk proudly with baskets of flowers, heading for Bahnhofstrasse and Limmatquai, while endless guests line the streets. The Sechseläuten is here. The festival when Zurich bids adieu to the long, cold winter nights. The festival at which the Böögg is burned. The festival where the public gets a glimpse of the city’s guild system. But what culminates on Monday with a big parade and the burning of the Böögg on Sechseläutenplatz starts three days prior. This guide is designed to give you the whole story on all the festivities – from how Zurich’s spring festival came about and who is behind it to where the best spots are to experience it in full.

Here’s how to make the festival a good one …

– Visit the ‘Zunftstadt Zürich’ exhibition to learn about the event 
– Grab a seat or spot to stand in for the parade 
– Enjoy a glass of wine in the Lindenhof while looking out over the city 
– Claim a Semmeli bread roll at the Grossmünster
– Buy flowers to give to the guild members and VIPs at the parade
– Wish the guild members ‘E schöns Sächsilüüte’ 
– Arrive at Sechseläutenplatz early to get a good view of the Böögg
– Grill a sausage on the embers of the pyre
– In the evening, wander through the alleys of the Old Town and watch the guild walkabouts
– Look forward to the next festival with a plate of ‘Züri-Gschnätzlets’