Austria retains a surprising
number of rural festivals,
which, despite their pagan
origins, were taken over by
the Catholic Church and
vigorously promoted during
the Counter-Reformation, in
order to wean the populace
away from Protestantism.
The year kicks off on the
night of January 5-6 with
one of the oddest of
Austria's folk practices,
the Perchtenlaufen ,
when folk dressed as Perchten
- kindly spirits wearing
elaborate head-dresses -
parade through the streets
in the hope of ensuring good
fortune and good harvests in
the coming year. It's
celebrated in various
locations in the Salzburger
Land and western Austria:
the Pongauer Perchtenlauf
(whose venue changes every
year) is the most renowned Fest.
The same night sees the Glöcklerlaufen
in the Salzkammergut town of
Ebensee, a related ritual in
which the men of the
community don giant
tissue-paper head-dresses
illuminated from within by
lanterns. Both Perchten
and Glöckler
costumes are a common sight
in regional museums.
January and early
February sees the height of Fasching
, or the carnival season,
which officially starts on
November 11 and comes to an
end on Shrove Tuesday ( Faschingsdienstag
). The weeks in the run up
to Shrove Tuesday are marked
by lavish society balls in
Vienna, Salzburg and other
major cities and towns. On
Ash Wednesday, families
greet the arrival of Lent by
eating Heringschmaus
, a platter of various
dried, salted and pickled
fish. Also in February, but
only at four-year intervals,
are two Tyrolean New Year
fertility rituals, which
echo the costumed parades of
the Perchtenlaufen :
the Schemenlaufen in
the town of Imst and the Schellerlaufen
in nearby Nassereith.
The three great moveable
feasts of spring and early
summer, Easter ( Oster
), Whitsun ( Pfingsten
) and Corpus Christi
( Fronleichnam ), all
provide the excuse for
long-weekend holidays and
family outings. Corpus
Christi is marked by
religious processions in the
Salzkammergut towns of
Traunkirchen and Hallstatt -
in both cases, celebrants
take to the waters of nearby
lakes in flotillas of tiny
boats. The summer solstice
is the occasion for the
lighting of bonfires on high
mountains in some areas on
the night of June 21-22
(known as the Bergfeuer
in Ehrwald; or the Sonnwendfeier
in the Gasteinertal). In
alpine parts of Austria,
September and October see
the descent of the cattle
herds from the high
mountain pastures where they
spend the summer. Festivals
marking the event - usually
called Alpabtrieb or Almabtrieb
- are held in many areas,
notably Zell am Ziller on
the first weekend in
October, and Mayrhofen on
the second weekend of the
same month. October is the
pumpkin month, with a pumpkin
festival ( Kürbisfest
) in just about every town
in the agricultural
heartlands of Lower Austria,
Burgenland and Styria. All
Saints' Day ( Allerheiligen
) on November 1 is taken
seriously across the
country, with hordes heading
out to the cemeteries to pay
their respects to the dead.
The feast of St
Barbara , patron of
miners and tunnellers, is
celebrated in mining areas
(such as at the Styrian
towns of Leoben and Eisenerz)
with parades and special
church services, either on
the day itself (December 4)
or on the nearest Sunday.
Also at the beginning of
December, Christmas
preparations get under way
with a Christmas market
( Christkindlmarkt )
of some sort taking place in
most towns and cities. The
biggest of these is in front
of the Rathaus in Vienna,
although big markets also
take place in the Domplatz
in Salzburg and in
Innsbruck's old town. St
Nicholas' Day on
December 5 sees a procession
in Innsbruck and, on the
night of December 5-6, St
Nicholas, accompanied by the
devil (Krampus) and
sometimes an angel, goes
round handing out gifts for
children. Meanwhile the Krampuslaufen
(when demonically masked
males run through the
streets to symbolize the
evil spirits chased away by
the goodly St Nicholas
himself) takes place all
over Austria, and most
notably in Zell am See. Christmas
( Weihnacht ) is
usually a private, family
affair, with the highlight
(for kids at least) coming
on Christmas Eve when Baby
Jesus ( Christkindl )
finally hands out the
presents. In some areas
carol singers also go from
house to house in order to
symbolize the visit of the
three Wise Men to Bethlehem;
a record of their visit is
chalked above the door of
each household, using the
letters K, M and B to denote
Kaspar, Melchior and
Balthazar - you're bound to
encounter some of these
strange chalk marks as you
travel around Austria,
because it's considered
unlucky to wipe them off
until the following year's
visit.
