Celebrate in laughter: The Lantern Festival and Fasnacht Carnival

Every year on the fifteenth day of the first month of the traditional Chinese calendar, just after Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival arrives on schedule. Although coming from a different culture, this traditional celebration that is full of laughter and distinctive features shares many similarities with the Swiss carnival Fasnacht, both in its core values and in the way it's celebrated.

The Lantern Festival is celebrated in a grand manner, marking the final moments of the Chinese New Year festivities. According to Chinese folk tradition, on the night when the bright moon hangs high, people light thousands of colorful lanterns to express their joy. Traditional activities during the Lantern Festival include going out to admire the moon, lighting lanterns, solving lantern riddles, and in provinces such as Hubei and Fujian, folk performances such as loong (dragon) lantern dances reach their peak.

Coinciding with the transition from winter to spring, Fasnacht officially lasts for three days, falling on "Dirty Thursday," "Fat Monday" and Tuesday. During this unique and lively celebration, people dress up as elves and monsters and parade through the streets.

Much like the lanterns that adorn the streets and crowds that gather for China's Lantern Festival, the grand finale of carnival takes place on a Tuesday evening with a grand parade known as the "Monsterkorso," featuring large bands, lights and lanterns.

During this winter carnival, indulging in high-calorie delicacies is also a welcome pleasure, with Dirty Thursday marking a time to consume high-fat foods like meat, eggs and cream.

In China, the Lantern Festival is accompanied by yuanxiao, a quaint snack consisting of glutinous rice wrapped around various sweet fillings. Over the centuries, the methods of making yuanxiao have become increasingly sophisticated, using different types of dough made from rice flour, glutinous millet flour, yellow corn flour or barley flour. Fillings range from sweet to savory and can include osmanthus sugar, hawthorn sugar, red bean paste, sesame seeds, peanuts and many others. Savory options include pork and lard fillings, which can also be deep-fried.

Although the Lantern Festival and Fasnacht have different historical origins, they share a fundamental similarity in their essence of celebration. Both convey their cultural heritage through laughter, dance and food. And in these moments of celebration, people from the two different cultures collectively experience the joyous feast of life.