The Basel Carnival (Fasnacht, from Monday, 23 February, 4:00 a.m., until 26 February, 4:00 a.m.)—apart from the three following “Bummelsonntage”  (Bummel Sundays)—has once again come to an end.

After the events of the Vorfasnacht (pre-carnival) season and the Carnival Mass (Fasnachtsmesse) in the Elisabethen Church, the annual call “vorwärts, marsch” (forward, march) sounded punctually at four o’clock near St. Martin’s Church, and thousands of participants began their procession through the city.

Monday, 23 February, 3.59 AM

Monday, 23 February, 4.01 AM

Direct Democracy, Subsidiarity and Federalism

Every year the same ritual, and yet each time a different (emotional) experience. Not only do musicality, creativity, discipline, organisation, and the fairytale-like setting characterise this event, but so do the performers. Direct democracy, subsidiarity, and the decentralised federal system are also expressed here.

The citizens of the city share their concerns about local, national, and international developments, publicly express their opinions and feelings to decision-makers, politicians, and other authorities, and address their decisions or shortcomings—not only in the streets, but also in the Schnitzelbänke.

The carnival is therefore also a serious affair. Apart from the long and intensive (musical and creative) preparation of the participants—whether organised in cliques or not—and the financial costs involved, the choice of a “subject” (Sujet) is discussed and ultimately put to a vote.

This is followed by the selection of costume, lantern (Laterne), and mask (Larve). Not all participants are organised in cliques or follow this procedure. Many take part in small groups or even alone, without a subject or a lantern.

All, however, share musicality, creativity, discipline, organisation, and respect for one another and for their surroundings. Two examples: at such a large festival, emergency services sometimes have to navigate in the crowds late into the night.

Spectators and carnival participants make room and do not obstruct the medical personnel. When a large clique with 100 or more members encounters a small group of just a few musicians, the smaller group is nevertheless given the right of way. There are never any arguments, not even in the narrowest alleys or in the greatest congestion.

Spectators also behave (so far) respectfully and exemplarily—despite the enormous crowds and the consumption of alcohol, which, however, offers no guarantee for the future.

Be that as it may, the quality and the serious undertone of the carnival perhaps come across best in the open-air museum of the lantern on the Münsterplatz and in the written explanations distributed by the cliques to explain the choice of their subject.

Where else can one find, at such an event, extensive discussions of democracy, society, neutrality, war and peace with references to philosophers, Nobel Prize winners, and other thinkers? Friedrich Nietzsche, Leo Tolstoy, Albert Einstein, or “Tic Tac instead of TikTok,” for example, were again integral parts of the carnival this year.

The Basel Carnival is indeed a unique event in the canton of Basel-Stadt, yet it also expresses Swissness. May Helvetia and Frau Fasnacht continue to protect this country and its unique democracy, system of government, cosmopolitan society, and quality of life, also for its own decisions.

Impressions from the Fasnacht 2026

 

Und der Besenwagen

 

The End