Sechseläuten Festival

Yesterday was a half day holiday for a festival unique to Zürich, called Sechseläuten. Sechseläuten is a street parade of the traditional guilds (tailors, butchers, fishermen, tanners etc) celebrating the end of Winter. At the end of the parade a huge snowman, called the Böögg, is set on fire. The Böögg is placed on a huge stack of hay and stuffed with explosives, and the length of time it takes for it to explode indicates how soon Summer will come, how long it will last, and how hot it will be (think Ground Hog Day with explosives!).