Basel, Switzerland (20 Minutes, Fre) – Carnival, the pre-Lenten festival, began at 04:00 in Basel, with the city centre’s lights going out. The city shifts to the rhythms of the marching "cliques" or small groups who celebrate together during the fete, with their pipes and whistles and drums. Ed. note: Carnival is celebrated in various ways and at different times throughout Switzerland, largely depending on whether a town is Catholic or Protestant, but it is celebrated in a much larger way in German-speaking Switzerland than in French language areas. Basel is widely considered to have the largest and most colourful festival in the country.

Le Matin lists other weekend Carnival festivities which drew large crowds, from 17,000 in Payerne to 80,000 in Bern.