Carnival Unusual sounds and some sunshine at the Basel Cortège
Guggen, floats and waggis joined the cliques at the first Cortège, the big carnival parade in Basel on Monday afternoon. In some cases, sounds could be heard that you wouldn't expect to hear at the carnival.
23.02.2026, 16:20
SDA
The regular clique of the Basler Bebbi Basel marched through the city with black loudspeaker larvae. Propagandistic sequences and martial music could be heard from powerful loudspeakers on the float. The theme of the formation referred to the undermining of democracy through misinformation in the USA.
The Alti Stainlemer tribal clique was costumed as a cross between soldiers and angels. While Nobel Peace Prizes were handed out at the front, the noise of war thundered from behind the lantern from metal plates carried along. Their theme dealt with the paradox of wanting to fight for peace with war.
Several formations took up the bus system in Birsfelden BL. The automatic transit control system, which fines anyone who drives through the municipality without a permit in less than 15 minutes, caused a great deal of controversy last year and is still controversial.
Other formations presented further subjects, such as traffic, playing without a screen, AI or Globi. Meanwhile, Waggis cheerfully unloaded piles of Räppli into the crowd - or they were gracious and gave presents to the audience.
Despite mild temperatures and a few rays of sunshine, the streets in Basel were not as crowded as they had been during the carnival, as could be observed on site.
