Context as succinctly as possible: Starting as a pagan ritual, fasnacht is a carnival originally used to try and drive out (or scare out) the cold of Winter in Switzerland. Each Canton (states of Switzerland) has there own way of doing this. Then after Catholicism, It morphed somewhat into a political movement, where the masks that many people originally wore to scare off the cold, became a great way to protest the government under the anonymity of disguise. Basel and Liestal as far as I understand used to share the same celebration, but after the protestant reformation of 1520 Basel became officially Protestant, while Liestal stayed predominantly Catholic. Thus they separated their carnival... With Basler Fasnacht starting at 4:00AM the first Monday after Ash Wednesday, and Liestal starting the day before.
While Basler Fasnacht lasts 72 hours full of floats and masked marching bands. I find the Liestal Chienbäse celebration of a 2 hour fire parade down the tiny town hall street is too spectacular to beat. It takes hundreds of firefighters from around the country to provide the support to pull such a parade off...as hundreds of locals carry large bushels of wood while ignited down the city street and through the city gate. The climax of course being when the large carriage bonfires (often so hot they melt clothing from several meters away) are rolled through the city as the flames often reach much, much higher then the height of the gate itself. Such a carriage is behind me in this photo.
You can check out the full Imgur gallery here
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