Chalandamarz

"Chalandamarz" is a Romansh word for the first day of the month of March, when the bells ring out winter and welcome the approach of spring. The custom, portrayed in the famous children's book "Schellenursli" ("A Bell for Ursli") by Selina Chönz and Alois Carigiet, is respected in Engadin, Münstertal, Bergell, Puschlav, Misox, Oberhalbstein and Albulatal, but the celebrations differ from village to village. Schoolchildren dressed in peasant smocks, pointed caps and traditional dress parade around the fountain early in the morning with bells and whips. They walk from house to house and sing Chalandamarz songs, collecting food and money for the communal feast and the school trip. In keeping with tradition, the procession in some villages comprises only boys (for example in Zuoz and Samedan). In Zuoz they practice cracking whips from 1 February, and the procession is rehearsed two Sundays before the big day. On Chalandamarz the boys parade through the village with bells as "herdsmen" and "cows", and the girls prepare the evening meal and the ball that follows. In Scuol the procession is complemented by a whip cracking competition. The Chalandamarz procession in Ftan resembles a carnival procession. The boys dress up and torment the girls with inflated pigs' bladders. In Poschiavo and Misox, a snowman is burned as a symbol of winter.