Sechseläuten
Zurich’s spring festival
For the last 500 years, the city of Zurich has staged Sechseläuten, a huge festival celebrating the end of winter and the arrival of spring. It is celebrated usually on the 3rd Monday of April, since the early 20th century.
Following the parade of the Zünfte (guilds), 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. According to lore, the faster the Böög’s head explodes the more pleasant the following summer will be. Thousands of Zurich’s inhabitants usually watch the spectacle and round off the day by using the remains of the Böög’s stake as a barbecue.
Sechseläuten is not an official holiday, but many businesses, offices and banks close for the day. There may be some minor traffic delays in the afternoon due to the procession of the guilds.
For the first time in its history, the burning of the Böögg did not take place in Zurich. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, in order to prevent crowds gathering, it was burned on the Devil’s Bridge in the Schöllenen Gorge, in Canton Uri on April 19, 2021.
Upcoming Sechseläuten Observances
2022 -2025
| Year | Weekday | Date | Name | Holiday Type | Area |
| 2022 | Mon | 25 Apr | Sechseläuten | Observance | Zurich |
| 2023 | Mon | 17 Apr | Sechseläuten | Observance | Zurich |
| 2024 | Mon | 15 Apr | Sechseläuten | Observance | Zurich |
| 2025 | Mon | 28 Apr | Sechseläuten | Observance | Zurich |
Location: Zurich
May 15
11:00 am
12.16 °C
May 15
2:00 pm
14.58 °C
May 15
5:00 pm
15.85 °C
May 15
8:00 pm
13.01 °C
Address
der Zünfte, Sechseläutenplatz Zentralkomitee, Postfach, 8001 Zürich, Switzerland
Tickets
Zürich Card and Swiss travel pass
Duration
Dependable
Location: Zurich
2:00 am
May 16
8.64 °C 85 % 1013 hPa 0.43 m/s 36 deg
light rain
5:00 am
May 16
7.31 °C 47 % 1013 hPa 0.04 m/s 248 deg
light rain
8:00 am
May 16
9.54 °C 46 % 1014 hPa 0.8 m/s 18 deg
light rain
11:00 am
May 16
11.18 °C 100 % 1013 hPa 2.27 m/s 31 deg
light rain
2:00 pm
May 16
12.85 °C 100 % 1013 hPa 3.8 m/s 37 deg
light rain
5:00 pm
May 16
9.67 °C 100 % 1015 hPa 4.47 m/s 10 deg
light rain
8:00 pm
May 16
9.27 °C 100 % 1016 hPa 4.22 m/s 21 deg
light rain
11:00 pm
May 16
8.73 °C 100 % 1018 hPa 3.18 m/s 53 deg
light rain
2:00 am
May 17
7.33 °C 100 % 1019 hPa 2.65 m/s 61 deg
light rain
5:00 am
May 17
6.51 °C 100 % 1020 hPa 3.76 m/s 44 deg
light rain
8:00 am
May 17
6.56 °C 100 % 1021 hPa 3.99 m/s 51 deg
light rain
11:00 am
May 17
9.28 °C 100 % 1021 hPa 5.12 m/s 60 deg
overcast clouds
2:00 pm
May 17
10.05 °C 100 % 1021 hPa 5.45 m/s 75 deg
overcast clouds
5:00 pm
May 17
10.42 °C 100 % 1021 hPa 4.94 m/s 74 deg
light rain
8:00 pm
May 17
8.95 °C 100 % 1021 hPa 3.18 m/s 71 deg
overcast clouds
11:00 pm
May 17
6.15 °C 99 % 1022 hPa 2.01 m/s 51 deg
overcast clouds
2:00 am
May 18
5.35 °C 99 % 1022 hPa 2.35 m/s 60 deg
overcast clouds
5:00 am
May 18
4.71 °C 100 % 1022 hPa 2.06 m/s 60 deg
overcast clouds
8:00 am
May 18
7.38 °C 100 % 1022 hPa 2.43 m/s 53 deg
overcast clouds
11:00 am
May 18
9.74 °C 100 % 1021 hPa 3.67 m/s 49 deg
overcast clouds
2:00 pm
May 18
11.37 °C 100 % 1021 hPa 4.37 m/s 53 deg
light rain
5:00 pm
May 18
11.8 °C 100 % 1021 hPa 3.67 m/s 54 deg
overcast clouds
8:00 pm
May 18
10.47 °C 100 % 1022 hPa 2.23 m/s 43 deg
overcast clouds
11:00 pm
May 18
9.05 °C 100 % 1022 hPa 1.05 m/s 40 deg
overcast clouds
2:00 am
May 19
8.16 °C 99 % 1022 hPa 0.91 m/s 32 deg
overcast clouds
5:00 am
May 19
7.78 °C 100 % 1021 hPa 0.7 m/s 15 deg
overcast clouds
8:00 am
May 19
8.02 °C 100 % 1022 hPa 1.35 m/s 10 deg
light rain
11:00 am
May 19
8.51 °C 100 % 1022 hPa 1.62 m/s 20 deg
moderate rain
2:00 pm
May 19
9.46 °C 100 % 1021 hPa 0.48 m/s 20 deg
light rain
5:00 pm
May 19
9 °C 100 % 1021 hPa 0.6 m/s 311 deg
light rain
8:00 pm
May 19
8.22 °C 100 % 1021 hPa 1.04 m/s 232 deg
light rain
11:00 pm
May 19
7.92 °C 100 % 1020 hPa 0.17 m/s 121 deg
light rain
2:00 am
May 20
7.89 °C 100 % 1019 hPa 0.07 m/s 210 deg
light rain
5:00 am
May 20
8.09 °C 100 % 1017 hPa 1.41 m/s 61 deg
light rain
8:00 am
May 20
8.32 °C 100 % 1017 hPa 2.11 m/s 51 deg
overcast clouds