5 ways in which Basel Fasnacht reminds me of Holi in India

Traditions and culture give character to a place. For me personally, delving into local culture, history, mythology and food is the most fascinating aspect of travel. I am glad to have been staying in Basel, Switzerland for the last three years and attending various events of the biggest celebration of the year – Fasnacht (Carnival) on multiple occasions. This year too, I woke up at 3 am on a Monday morning to attend the Morgenstraich (opening parade) which begins at 4 am sharp when all the street lights are switched off. In the midst of being pushed along with the crowds, being stuffed with confetti, witnessing the Fasnacht parades, relishing Käsewähe and completely in awe of the colours and enthusiasm in the city of Basel during these magnificent three days, I had an epiphany of sorts.

Fasnacht in Basel is like Holi in India, except with confetti !

 

 

Confused? Here’s what struck me and led me to think about 5 ways in which Basel Fasnacht reminds me of Holi, the festival of colours, in India :

 

Five Ways Basel Fasnacht Feels Like Holi

Traditions are what give a place its character, and for me the most interesting part of travel has always been getting inside them: the history, the stories, the food. I have lived in Basel for three years and have been to Fasnacht, the city's biggest celebration of the year, several times. This year I was awake at three in the morning on a Monday for the Morgenstreich, the opening parade that begins at four o'clock sharp, at which point every street light in the city is switched off.

Somewhere in the crush, with confetti down my collar, a slice of Käsewähe in one hand and the parades going past, I had a realisation. This is Holi. Not literally, obviously. But in five quite specific ways.

One: you will be ambushed

In Basel there is no point dressing carefully. Random children and complete strangers will take the opportunity to throw as much confetti at you as they can carry, and if a group of kids decides you are the target, they will gang up and stuff your jacket with multi-coloured paper.

In India the ammunition is colour, dry or mixed with water. You can stay inside your own neighbourhood or go to a Holi party and play with people you know, but you never know when a water balloon will land on you, or when a stranger will decide to paint your face in the darkest shade they can find.

Two: it follows you home

No matter how hard you brush yourself down after Fasnacht, your bedroom, living room and bathroom fill with coloured paper. You find confetti in the strangest places, on your clothes and around them, for days.

Holi works the same way with colour. All the scrubbing in the world will not remove it from your face and hands for days. Say hello to a pink face for the next ten days or more.

Three: it takes more planning than it looks

Fasnacht is not spontaneous. The cliques spend months preparing: costumes, a theme, music to practise, and a stockpile of confetti. For children, the three days have a single mission, which is to fill their fists with as much confetti as possible and attack anyone, with or without a badge, while also collecting as many sweets and oranges as they can.

For the rest of us, preparation means buying the Fasnacht badge, the blagatte, which costs a minimum of 9 CHF, and hoping not to be targeted too often. It also means choosing between staying up all night and sleeping for a short while before the 4 am Morganstreich. Arrive late and a decent spot to watch the parade will be hard to find.

Holi has its own checklist. Old clothes. An opaque t-shirt, if that is your preference. Oiled hair and hands. Nail paint to protect your nails. Gulaal, a pichkaari and water balloons. And a strategy for the bhaang wali thandaai, which is a decision rather than a drink.

A note on that last one: bhaang is an edible preparation of marijuana that people usually mix into milk-based drinks such as thandaai at Holi. You will not feel anything immediately. It tends to arrive an hour or two later, and it can arrive hard. The safest approach is to eat something and then sleep until it wears off.

Four: the food tells you where you are

At Fasnacht, every corner and every café seems to be selling the same three things: Käsewähe, Zweibelwähe and Mehlsuppe. They are the taste of the festival, and after a cold four o'clock start they are exactly what you want.

At Holi, the equivalent is thandaai and gujiyas, appearing at every gathering. And with them comes a familiar scene: teenagers queueing at the thandaai table and saying "Bhaiya, woh waala glass dena" before collapsing into laughter with their friends. If you know, you know.

Five: the streets remember

For at least three days after Fasnacht, the roads of Basel are covered in a carpet of confetti. It gets into the tram tracks, the gutters and the doorways, and nobody bothers to sweep it until the festival is over.

For several days after Holi, the roads carry the colour. The festival is written into the surface of the city for a while, which is part of the pleasure.

And then you stop minding

At some point in the middle of it, the chaos stops being an inconvenience and becomes the point. You join in. That is true in Basel and in India, and it may be the strongest similarity of all. Bura na maano, Holi hai.

If you are going to Fasnacht, buy a badge, expect confetti in everything you own, and set two alarms for the opening parade. For the rest of Basel, see these ideas for the city.

Photographs: confetti at Fasnacht by Friedrich Reinhardt Verlag for Basel Tourism; Holi images via Flickr from World Festival and Plson Jaujlp; the confetti-covered bridge by Steven Garner on Flickr.

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