Räbechilbi
The Räbechilbi is the local variant of alemannischen Räbenlichtbrauchtums that in the municipality Richterswil on Lake Zurich each held on the second Saturday in November. Räben is the dialect term for autumn beet .
The Martini Festival of Lights is said to have its origins in a peasant offering of thanks for bringing in the last crops before the approaching winter. The women from the mountain went with the rods, the light and warmth at the same time, through the sparsely lit streets into the village to the thanksgiving service. The first formation of the parade, the “Churchgoers from the Mountain”, is an impressive reminder of those times.
Every year around 25 tons of vines are planted and harvested especially for the move in the Zürcher Unterland . In thousands of hours of work, clubs tinker with their subjects, children carve individual vines - the whole village is on its feet to revive the custom every year. The event is organized by the local tourist office. The residents of the moving route are obliged to decorate their houses with vines and to turn off the lights. The street lights are also switched off during the move. As a sign of the lights going out, a Chinese cracker is shot down on the Richterswiler Horn and a second as a sign to start running. After the route has been walked one and a half times, there is a third gunshot to signal that the move is over.
According to the 2000 Guinness Book of Records , Richterswil was home to the world's largest robe-light parade.
"Footprint" plastic on a moving van
Some vine lights on the roadside
Ornate arrangement
Window dressing
See also
- Bochsel night custom in Thurgau.
- Räbenlicht General article.
Web links
- Räbechilbi Richterswil Official Website