Old men in fancy dress, marching bands, and brownface

Before the burning of the Sechseläuten Böögg yesterday afternoon, Zurich’s 26 guilds put on an elaborate parade which wound its way around downtown for hours and hours. The parade primarily consisted of older men dressed up in period dress marching, riding horses, or being carried on various horse-drawn carriages. Women aren’t allowed to be members … Read more

Burn, Bööggy, burn

It took about 10-and-a-half minutes for his head to explode. According to the witches who figure these things out, that’s a good sign for summer. It probably doesn’t count, though, since the whole thing was done with an ersatz Böögg (who was protected by a large security force of both men and dogs before the … Read more

The Böögg has been kidnapped!

I was shocked to learn about the Sechseläuten Böögg’s disappearance yesterday upon my return to Zurich. I leave for a week and miss all kinds of excitement here! Before I get into this story, I should provide a little background to those of you who are sitting there scratching your heads wondering what the hell … Read more