Groppenfasnacht

Groppenfasnacht (Fish Carnival)

Between March 1 and April 4; Laetare Sunday (three weeks before Easter)This Lenten celebration in the village of Ermatingen, Thurgau Canton, Switzerland, takes its name from the Gropp, a fish a few inches long caught only in the Ermatingen area. The event dates to the time when fishermen celebrated the breaking up of the ice in the spring because they could return to catching fish. A committee of villagers organizes a procession in which children dress as frogs and dwarfs and follow a float that carries a huge Gropp, while men march along carrying antique fishing implements.
CONTACTS:
Groppenkomitee Ermatingen
Hauptstrasse 64
Ermatingen, 8272 Switzerland
41-71-664-1144; fax: 41-71-664-2758
www.groppenfasnacht.ch
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