Gaylord — At the Gaylord Alpenfest, revelers wear dirndls and lederhosen, tyrolean hats and flower wreaths. They eat bratwurst and drink beer as they listen to music. And of course, they burn the Böögg.
The burning of the Böögg, a spring tradition in Switzerland, involves the creation of a large “snowman” made of wool. In Switzerland, this “Böögg,” as it’s known, represents winter, and its burning symbolizes the coming of spring. Much like our Groundhog Day, it is said that the faster the fire lights up the Böögg (and its head, full of firecrackers, explodes), the longer and more lovely the coming summer will be.
At Alpenfest, the Böögg’s burning has taken on new meaning. Each year, the festival organizers build a large snowman effigy. But here, what is burned is not the memory of winter but the woes and worries of festivalgoers.
On the first day of each year’s festival, at the center of the event, a table is set up next to the Böögg. There, anyone who likes can write down their troubles on small slips of paper, before putting them inside the effigy. That evening, as soon as the sun goes down, the woe-filled snowman is lit ablaze—and everyone’s sorrows turn to ash.
At the same time people are putting their troubles inside the Böögg, paper lanterns are made at the Alpenfest art tent. These are lit at sunset with flashlights and carried by their owners in a procession following the Böögg to its final destination—a parking lot a few streets over.
I got to the parking lot at 10 p.m., the time set for the effigy burning. A group of Gaylord firemen and several firetrucks are on standby. In the middle of the parking lot was a heap of sand. A large crowd of Gaylord residents and visitors—kids and adults, hot and sweaty from the day’s festivities, gathered, awaiting the big moment.
The Böögg arrived with its procession and is propped up on the sand. After a short lantern march around the ill-fated puppet, everyone backed up, and a fireman touched a torch to its base. The crowd erupted in hoots and hollers as the poor snowman went up in huge flames.
I have to assume everyone was considering what they wrote on those slips of paper at this moment. Relationship problems, medical concerns, stresses at work, tensions at home. General worries about where life is taking them.
Everyone carries something, of course. And it’s a wonderful idea to literally set all those worries ablaze. After all, if anything is going to be burned in effigy, why not let it be all the thoughts and fears that ail us?
Maybe we were all also lamenting a bit that the burning of the Böögg is only a symbol. It’s just for fun, after all.
Still, I have to wonder why, for 60 years, people continue to return to this seemingly trivial ritual. It is, I suppose, because worries never completely disappear. But if we can see them go up in physical flames, they may diminish for a while.
Perhaps we all slept a little better that night.
Faye Root is a writer and a homeschooling mother based in Northern Michigan. Follow her on X @littlebayschool.
