A great variety of customs are celebrated in different parts of Switzerland during the winter months.

Trychle in Meiringen

Trychle processions take place in the villages of the Hasliberg and Haslital in the week between Christmas and the New Year, mainly after dark. The participants, in different masks and disguises, make as much noise as possible with drums and cowbells.

On the evening of the last working day before New Year the groups from the different villages meet in Meiringen for a final series of processions in the ceremony known as Übersitz.

Epiphany

Epiphany falls on January 6th, and is known as Three Kings Day. Traditionally it marks the day when the three kings presented their gifts to the baby Jesus.

A widespread custom connected with this day is "star singing". It takes different forms in different parts of the country (and in some areas is even held before Christmas), but takes its name from the star which the groups of singers carry with them, representing the star which guided the three kings in the biblical story.

At least some of the singers are dressed as the three kings, and they may go from house to house, process through the streets or sing in the village square.

In the Lötschental in Canton Valais young men elaborately dressed up as kings go through the villages on hobby horses, which are made of a plank of wood draped in expensively decorated cloth, and with a small horsehead. They are accompanied by two companions, known as "goigglär", dressed in colourful costumes, whose job is to draw attention to their horse and show it off as they make their way round the houses of the village notables and then into the restaurants, eating and drinking at each. The same custom is also carried out on New Year's eve with minor differences.

Secular festivals

Other festivals with no religious connotations also take place on or around January 6th. For example, in Schwyz a whip-cracking competition is held. The crowd is also treated to the procession of "Japanese", a carnival association dressed in Japanese-style costumes, accompanied by three riders and a band, who throw sweets to the children.

Silvesterkläuse

The Silvesterkläuse celebrate the New Year in a custom almost entirely confined to the area surrounding the village of Urnäsch in the half-canton of Appenzell Outer-Rhodes.

The best known Kläuse wear male or female masks and costumes with huge cowbells back and front and carry enormous headdresses depicting typical local scenes. These are known as "beautiful" Kläuse. There are two other kinds of costume: the "ugly" ones wear demonic masks, sometimes with horns, and rough garments made of foliage and brushwood, and the "forest" Kläuse dress in foliage.

The Kläuse - all men - go from farmhouse to farmhouse, where they perform a special kind of yodel, and bring new year greetings.

The Silvesterkläuse celebrate the New Year on January 13th. This is the date of New Year according to the old Julian calendar, which now runs 13 days behind the generally accepted Gregorian calendar. The Protestants in Appenzell rejected the calendar reform of 1582 because it was decreed by the Pope. (As far as everyday business is concerned, Appenzell Outer-Rhodes - the Protestant half-canton - finally made the switch in 1798.)

Vogel Gryff in Kleinbasel

The Vogel Gryff festival is held in Kleinbasel, the part of Basel on the right bank of the Rhine, the traditional rival of the richer area on the left bank. The date of the festival rotates according to a three year cycle between 13, 20 and 27 January.

Three heraldic figures, "Vogel Gryff" (a griffin), "Wild Maa" (green man) and "Leu" (lion) dance in the streets of the town, accompanied by three drummers, three standard-bearers and four "Ueli" (jesters), who collect money for the needy of Kleinbasel.

Although the festival is named after the Vogel Gryff, it starts with the Wild Maa floating down the Rhine on a raft consisting of two small boats fastened together. He takes care always to present his back to the left bank, indicating the disdain of the people of Kleinbasel for their neighbours.

Other customs

A well known custom in the Upper Engadine valley in Canton Graubünden is the "Schlitteda", a procession of horse-drawn sleighs which takes place in different villages over the January weekends.

At the front of each sleigh sits a young woman in traditional costume, while a man in tails and a top hat guides it from behind.