Chalandamarz

Chalandamarz is a traditional spring festival in Romansh-speaking and Italian-speaking parts of the Swiss canton of Graubünden.

It is celebrated in much of the Romansh-speaking area, including the Engadin, Val Müstair, Albula (Surmeir), and formerly in the Posterior Rhine valley, as well as in the Italian-speaking parts of Grisons (Poschiavo, Bregaglia and Mesolcina).

Use of cowbells to drive out winter is known from other Alpine folklore, such as the Perchten or Fasnacht traditions of Alemannic and Austro-Bavarian speaking areas.

The Chalandamarz in Ftan, Lower Engadin, shows influence from Fasnacht traditions in the wearing of masks.

In Poschiavo and Mesolcina, formerly also in Scuol, Tschlin and Innerferrera, a straw effigy symbolizing winter is burned.