ABSTRACT
Each February, in the wee hours of the morning, the city of Basel is transformed by the first event of Fasnacht during its carnival week. Called Morgenstreich, it involves groups of costumed paraders who suddenly appear from dark alleys and silent squares bearing giant painted gas-lit lanterns, piping on piccolos and beating on drums (Figure 10.1). They wind chaotically through the streets of the medieval city, moving from anywhere to everywhere with no apparent destination, raising a raucous clamour and casting a magical light in the dark winter morning of this Swiss city. One cortege crosses the next, as their itineraries intertwine through the city streets until dawn, when the groups disperse for a warming soup in a local restaurant cellar.
