Photo credit Geoff Pegler
This year the burning of the Böögg will take place on Monday 18th April at 6pm exactly. It’s a celebration to mark the end of Winter and the beginning of Summer – and what better way to do it than to set fire to a snowman-like effigy in the centre of Sechselaeutenplatz in Zurich? According to folklore, the length of time the Böögg burns for, determines what type of Summer we have in store.
The faster the Böögg’s head burns off (where all the explosives are located) the better the Summer we will have. However, despite being very accurate back in 2003, the Böögg is in general notoriously unreliable! However, it’s fun to guess. This year, like last year you can even place bets on the length of time you think it will last with the average bet being around 13 minutes! See the link below.
Photo credit Geoff Pegler
Photo credit Geoff Pegler
The Böögg and Sechseläuten
The Guilds perform their annual parades through the streets of Zurich from around 3pm on the Monday with floats, flowers, processions and lots of dressing up. Around the end of the 19th century the two customs, the Guilds celebration of Sechseläuten, and the burning of the Böögg, which previously had been a smaller affair with multiple snowmen being burned around Bürkliplatz and Fraumünster, were combined.
Photo credit Geoff Pegler
The Children’s Parade
The children’s Parade always takes place on the Sunday before the Burning of the Böögg on the Monday, and is always a colourful and fun spectacle. It starts at Stadthausquai at 2.30pm.
Photo credit Geoff Pegler
This is the route that the Kinderumzug or Children’s Parade will take on the Sunday afternoon:
Credit: Sechselaeuten.ch
Photo credit Geoff Pegler
For more information please visit the Sechselaeuten website here. To enter the “Tipster contest” to bet on how long you think the Böögg will burn for, click here.
For more photos from a previous Sechseläuten celebration see here.
Tip: It can get quite packed around the burning of the Böögg at 6pm on Monday, so you may not want to get too close if you have young children or babies in tow and you might find it easier to watch from a vantage point somewhere. Don’t forget Monday is a half day holiday in Zurich so many businesses will shut early that day. Have fun and enjoy!
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See what else is on in Zurich this coming week and beyond here.
