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A festival is also celebrated here

A festival is also celebrated here

Mardi Gras in West Virginia

The American village of Helvetia embraces “country roads” as it bids farewell to winter around the campfire.

Carnival is also celebrated in a small village in the US state of West Virginia. Records from a very special festival that mixes Swiss folklore with American traditions.

Carnival in Helvetia (West Virginia): Mike Dagny (left) and his wife, Susie, celebrate in homemade costumes.

Image: Aaron Roof

The last Swiss German speaker in the village of Helvetia, in a remote corner of West Virginia, died a few years ago. But even after this turning point the link with Switzerland – the homeland of the village’s founders – was not severed.

Swiss flags fly at Dorfstrasse, a remote restaurant opened in the late 1960s, Official population: 38, Helvetia’s Swiss flags name “The Hütte” and two spacious multipurpose buildings. 154 years after the founding of Helvetia, witness a practiced club culture.

Carnival in Helvetia.

Image: Aaron Roof

“Fasnacht” is the most obvious connection to Switzerland come February – and hundreds of people gather in the small settlement on the Saturday before Ash Wednesday to celebrate the American version of various Swiss folk festivals.

Carnival in Helvetia includes: the carnival parade or Halloween, August 1st with lights and costumes reminiscent of the burning of a doll called “Old Man Winter” in a campfire; A ritual reminiscent of Zurich’s Sechseläuten. “Take Me Home, Country Roads” was sung, the official West Virginia state anthem, and local beer was drunk.

And while it might sound special, especially for Basel festival enthusiasts or Lucerne Guken musicians, this unique combination makes the festival, far from the nearest big city, a unique experience. It also had something to do with the interesting mix of party-goers who gathered at Helvetia on this chilly Saturday. “I’ve never seen so many people here,” said filmmaker Clara Lehmann, one of the organizers of the Helvetia Carnival.

The Swiss cannot be overlooked: a lamp by a campfire burning “Old Man Winter”.

Image: Renzo Roof

Homemade masks and costumes

In addition to the locals, many tourists from distant cities throng the Dorfstrasse. Some wear self-made masks that make a good trap in Lucerne. A talented young makeup artist claims to have seen a YouTube video. Others were improved; Mike Dagny of Virginia Beach calls his suit, which features a tree trunk with a squirrel, “Father Fassnacht.”

End of “Old Man Winter”.

Image: Aaron Roof

Many visitors were hearing about the festival for the first time An article in the New York Times The Foot Newspaper devoted an excellent illustrated article to the festival in the West Virginia mountains last spring. And Helvetia knows another group from the online role-playing game “Fallout 76,” in which the village plays an important role. The group includes Daniel Valentine from Baltimore (Maryland), who is participating in the festival for the second time. He patiently explains his attire to the uninitiated.

And when “Old Man Winter” burns away, party-goers retire to the “Helvetia Community Hall,” a very spacious multi-purpose building. Then there is dancing to traditional West Virginia music. It has nothing in common with Swiss nationality, but it really doesn’t matter.

Lights on August 1st at the festival in Helvetia.

Image: Renzo Roof