Basler Fasnacht

At four in the morning on the Monday after Ash Wednesday every light in central Basel goes out, and several thousand masked players step off with lanterns on their heads and shoulders, playing piccolos and drums. That is Morgestraich, and the carnival that follows runs for exactly seventy-two hours before stopping dead on Thursday morning. Basel's version is unusual in several ways: it begins after Lent has started, it is run by the cliques rather than the city, and it is not aimed at spectators. Painted lanterns carry the themes each group has chosen and are lit from within, wagons throw oranges and confetti, and small ensembles perform rhymed verses through the night. UNESCO listed it in 2017.

What you actually see

• Morgestraich - four in the morning, the lights out, lanterns and piccolos moving off.
• The painted lanterns - large transparencies lit from inside and later displayed on Munsterplatz.
• The processions - Monday and Wednesday afternoons, with Tuesday given to children and brass bands.
• The confetti - thrown by the handful and worked into everything you are wearing.

When to go

The dates move with Easter and fall in late February or early March. Morgestraich is the one thing not to miss, which means being in the centre before four in the morning with a hotel booked months in advance. The rest runs day and night until Thursday. Dress for cold, because it is often close to freezing and frequently wet.

Honest expectations

Three days of continuous piccolo and drum wears people down, and there is nowhere in the centre to escape the noise. Hotels double their rates and fill early. The carnival is made for the participants, so as a spectator you stand at the edge of something not performed for you. Confetti gets everywhere, and rain turns it into paste.

Nearby

Basel's old town, its cathedral terrace and its museums all sit inside the carnival area.