Basel's carnival kicked off in the early hours of Monday morning with the traditional "Morgestraich". At 4am, the lights went down and the cliques took to the streets of the northern Swiss city with their satirical lanterns, to the sound of piccolos and drums. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox The weather was relatively good and thousands of people flocked to see the show, as observed by a journalist from the Swiss News Agency Keystone-SDA. The event kicked off in Basel dialect with the drum-majors of the cliques playing "Morgestraich, vorwärts Marsch!". The first major procession took place in the afternoon. Global instability, wars and the hostile attitude of US President Donald Trump are at the heart of the themes for the 2026 edition. The Basel Carnival is the largest in Switzerland. It has been a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage site since 2017. Adapted from French by AI/ts How we work We select the most relevant news for an international audience ...
