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Hundreds of thousands of inhabitants and visitors by train gather each year for the greatest carnival in Switzerland. The Züri Fäscht provides fun and entertainment for all generations and tastes, both around the lake and throughout the inner city, on land, on water and in the air. 
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On a high plateau overlooking the Alps, from the Matterhorn to the Mont-Blanc, the greatest golfers of the world compete at one of the major tournaments of the PGA European Tour.
party, where chaos and merriness reign and nothing is as it normally is. Stange characters in fantastic masks and costumes make their way through the alleyways, while carnival musicians (Guggenmusigen) blow their instruments in joyful cacophony and thousands of bizarrely clad people sing and dance away the winter. Among the highlights of Lucerne's Carnival are certainly the two parades which wind through the entire city. Every year, the spectators gather along the parade route to marvel at the self-made wagons and costumes. 
of Basel describe this event as the "drei scheenschte Dääg" (most wonderful days). Once every year, at four o'clock on a Monday morning, the city is plunged into darkness as the carnival queen begins her reign. Carnival brings the whole region into the streets, and makes them quake and shake. What an event! But first it is Liestal's turn, the capital of the adjacent half-canton. On the Sunday before the Basel carnival, the town seems to go up in flames in a spectacular incendiary display, the so-called Chienbäse, when carts piled high with straw are paraded through the streets of the old town and set alight. Its the perfect prelude to the Morgestraich (morning tattoo) at four the next morning, when the lights go out in Basel and the Lady of Misrule takes over the city.
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Swiss National Holiday
The Swiss National Day is 1 August. It is inspired by the mention of "early August" (primo incipiente mense Augusto) in the Federal Charter of 1291. It was first celebrated in Berne in 1891, marking the 600th anniversary of the charter. It displaced the formerly more prominent traditional date of the Rütlischwur, 8 November 1307, in the latter 20th century and was made an official national holiday in 1994. It is celebrated each year on August 1st with town-wide paper lantern parades, bonfires, hanging strings of Swiss flags and fireworks.
The day of independence is typically celebrated at a local, municipality level though certain events draw nation-wide attention. Since the mid-nineteenth century, the Rhine Falls near Schaffhausen has illuminated its 25 meter high waterfalls for special events. Beginning in 1920, the waterfall has been regularly lit for the national holiday and since 1966 is now lit only for this holiday. At the historic location of Rütli Meadow above Lake Lucerne, a representational celebration is staged in the location where the legendary pledge of alliance, the Rütlischwur is held to have taken place.
Knabenschiessen, Zürich
The Knabenschiessen is a folk festival, which takes place in the middle of September, one weekend before the Penance Day. It is set on the Albisgüetli from Saturday to Monday.
The first Knabenschiessen took place in 1889 at which 5000 youths (originally only boys, that’s why the name (Knaben = Boys); girls have been allowed to participate since 1991) in the age of 13 – 17 years compete to get the title of the King of Marksmen. All youths, which stay and go to school in the canton of Zürich, are allowed to participate. The starting fee is 12 CHF and includes munitions and a sausage.
The shooting competition takes place from Saturday to Monday. The winner gets trophy money. The following shooters on the anterior positions get goods from the table of presents.
In the city of Zürich Monday is half a public holiday, because in the afternoon nobody will work. Most of the shops are closed in the afternoon after 01.00 pm. Pupils get the whole day off.
The general public can enjoy themselves at Switzerland's largest annual fair, which lasts three days. The shooting competition nowadays is not the most important thing anymore. There are a lot of stands and the amusement park to enjoy.
Onion Market, Bern
The Zibelemärit is an annual market with aspects of a fair in the old town of Berne, Switzerland. It takes place every fourth Monday in November. Historical research indicates that the Zibelemärit originated in the 1850s with marmettes, farmer's wives from around Murten, coming to Berne at around St. Martin's Day to sell their produce. However, a persistent local legend holds that the Zibelemärit is a much older festivity. According to this legend, the Bernese awarded the people from the nearby city of Fribourg the right to sell onions in the city in reward for their aid after a fire destroyed much of Berne in 1405.
As the name indicates, it is mainly onions that are sold on the Zibelemärit. Bernese farmers, who are proud of their decorative onion tresses and onion wreaths, also sell other onion products on the market, including Zwiebelkuchen (onion pie), onion soup and onion sausages. Decorative chains of sugar onions are also popular with children.
The Zibelemärit opens very early in the day, at around 03:00 to 04:00. Later in the morning, the narrow alleys are usually packed tight with people, which is what the Bernese call the Gstungg. A general confetti battle in which mostly children participate ensues at four o'clock in the afternoon, officially ending the market.
Sechseläuten, Zürich
The Sechseläuten is a traditional spring holiday in the Swiss city of Zürich celebrated in its current form since 1904.
Burning of the Böögg
Following the parade of the Zünfte, the climax of the holiday is the burning of winter in effigy, in the form of the Böögg, a figure of a snowman prepared with explosives. The custom of burning a ragdoll called Böögg predates the Sechseläuten. A Böögg (cognate to bogey) was originally a masked character doing mischief and frightening children during the carnival season.
History
The holiday used to be held on the first Monday following vernal equinox. On that day, the Fraumünster bell, for the first time in the year, tolled to mark the end of working hours at 6 p.m. (historically the time of sunset on vernal equinox). The holiday was moved to the third Monday of April in 1952. Because of the later date, and because of summer time introduced in 1981, the lighting of the Böögg's pyre at 6 p.m. has now moved to several hours before nightfall. Additionally, because of its present date, the holiday is often within a week of 1 May, leading to a stark contrast between the upper class dominated Sechseläuten and the working class holiday of May Day. This proximity of the major festivals of two political poles of the society of Zürich has led to various interferences in the past, for example the abduction of the Böögg in 2006 by leftist "revolutionaries" a few days before the Sechseläuten. Since then, several Bööggs are held in reserve with the main one stored at a bank nearby the Sechseläutenplatz (the open area in front of the Operahaus near Bellevue where most Zürich open air activities take place).
Weather oracle
Popular tradition has it that the time between the lighting of the pyre and the explosion of the Böögg`s head is indicative of the coming summer: a quick explosion promises a warm, sunny summer, a drawn-out burning a cold and rainy one. The shortest time on record is 5:07 minutes in 1974, and the longest in 2001 with 26:23. The latest explosion of the Böögg`s head (on 16 April 2007) took place 12:09 minutes after the pyre was lit, promising a medium warm summer.