Honoring the Vogel Gryff Festivity in Switzerland

Back in the 13th century, Swiss people used to incorporate festivities with Pagan folkways; an example of these festivals is what the Swiss called Vogel Gryff. Ordinarily celebrated on the 13th, 20th, or 27th of January, the Vogel Gryff is celebrated specifically in Kleinbasel.

Once the festivity takes off, usually at 11 in the morning, the so-called Wild Maa, which is a figure that symbolizes fertility, carries a raft from Rhine to Mittlere Brücke where he dances while holding a pine sapling. Aside from the regular Wild Maa, the Vogel Gryff or griffon and the Leu or lion are also participants of the festivity that meet the event's Wild Maa on the river bank once they hear the cannon. The three stand in the Mittlere Brücke at noon to dance a folk dance, which includes steps sprang from the Medieval Ages, with the drums.

After the ceremony, the three and the audience gather in Kleinbasel to continue the festivity with a Gryffemähli, which is a lunch party for the three players. While those three are eating, there is a procession that includes jesters who raise money for the poverty-stricken people in town. The festivity ends at night when the people celebrate by partying and drinking, while the three players continue dancing the traditional dance in old Kleinbasel restaurants.