3 February 2005 (Various dates - see below)

If you consider Switzerland too hilly and snowy for a colourful and glamorous carnival, give Fasnacht in Lucerne a chance. The entire town goes crazy in a celebration which dates back to the 15th century. There is a lantern-lit parade and impromptu Commedia del Arte performances, musical groups perform in the narrow streets of the old town and hundreds of people dress in masks and costumes.

The fun kicks off at 5am on Dirty Thursday when the Fritschi father and his escorts wave from the windows of the Town Hall and a gun signals the start of Carnival. At 2pm there is a wild parade of big bands, lights and lanterns from Schweizerhofquai to Moosstrasse. After the parade (around 3pm) and up until midnight the bands wander through the city playing in bars, restaurants and squares.

On the Saturday, people in masks and musicians gather all over the town to party until 11pm. Sunday is a day of rest and then on Fat Monday, carnival begins again at 5am. Bands congregate at the train station and the carnival parade takes place at 2pm (along the same route as Thursday), with bands and partying continuing again until midnight in the old town.

Finally, on Fat Tuesday, the children make a parade at 2.30pm from Muhlenplatz and then the finale is the Monsterkorso (Monster Parade), a lantern-lit affair which begins at 7.3opm in Bahnhofstrasse in front of the main post office and ends at Wienmarkt, where the bands continue the revelry until 4am on Ash Wednesday, at which point the curtain of carnival falls for yet another year.

Dirty Thursday is so-called because the name for dirt and for grease are the same in the local dialect. Historically it was a day to eat fatty sausages and lots of doughnuts - to shore up fat reserves before the privations of Lent. The feasting continues through to Fat Tuesday (Gudisdienstag, which literally means "Belly Tuesday").

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