Carnival comes!

November 11 is the beginning of the Carnival season. It is Saint Martin's day. In the evening in Gmünd there was a Gugga music festival. Gugga bands came from the region to parade and play through the town. Each group was in costume, some with masks or painted faces and the music was rowdy and raucous. They all took their turns to go to the main fountain where two men were in the water waiting to wash their instruments. This cleansing symbolized the ridding of the dust of the year. Newly washed they played a mad song and then marched on. Later, they assembled and waited for the Silbermann who would officially start Carnival. In January and February there will be much more Gugga music in the city as well as festivals, parades and parties. I will write more about Carnival as time permits. Lets just say for now that it is a form of controlled anarchy when the people have power symbolically over the rulers.