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Sechseläuten
Zurich's spring festival: guild parade, and the burning of Böögg, a snowman, to forecast the summer.
When is Sechseläuten in 2027?
Sechseläuten 2027 is on Monday, 19 April 2027. Other years: 2026, Monday, 20 April 2026; 2028, Monday, 17 April 2028.
About Sechseläuten
Sechseläuten is the spring festival of Zurich, held on the third Monday of April, which marks the end of winter. The ceremony began in the nineteenth century, when the city's guilds set the end of the working day to six o'clock for the summer months. On the Sunday, there is a children's parade in costume, and on Monday the guilds, in historical dress, ride and march through the city to the Sechseläutenplatz, accompanied by bands. At 6 p.m. the bells of the Grossmünster ring, and the Böögg, a snowman made of cotton wool, with a head packed with fireworks, is set alight on top of a pile of wood. The time it takes for his head to explode is said to predict the summer, the faster the better. Guild members dine in their halls.
Sechseläuten dates: 2026, 2027, 2028
| Year | Sechseläuten date |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Monday, 20 April 2026 |
| 2027 | Monday, 19 April 2027 |
| 2028 | Monday, 17 April 2028 |
What is eaten
- bratwurst
- Zurcher Geschnetzeltes
Also part of it, and being written: Böögg (The snowman effigy.), Zünfte (The guilds of Zurich.), Zurich (The city of the festival.).
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background: "Sechseläuten" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.