Costumes The approximately 18,000 active
Fasnächtler dress up in a wide variety of
costumes, including a
mask known as a
Larve. Participants are fully concealed and must remain
incognito while parading; it is considered inappropriate and a breach of protocol to identify oneself by removing the mask, other than during official breaks from the parade. Members of the various
Cliques wear costumes that fit a specific theme, except during Morgestreich and on Fasnacht Tuesday. Costumes and masks commonly represent famous people including politicians, or even comic characters or animals. More traditional masks recall
Napoleonic soldiers,
harlequins (
Harlekin), the famous Waggis (buffoons portraying an exaggerated caricature of
Alsatian peasants), and the figure of the
Alti Dante (old dame), an upper-class elderly woman.
Cortège The parades taking place on Monday and Wednesday afternoon are called Cortège and follow two defined ring routes: the inner ring runs clockwise, and the outer ring runs counterclockwise. The two routes are sometimes referred to as the blue and the red route because of their colour representation on the route map. The
Fasnächtler who participate in the parade generally toss confetti into the crowds, and hand out candy and other treats to the spectators.
Sujet Most of the groups choose a
Sujet () for the Fasnacht. These
Sujets are usually related to recent events and are highly satirical. These
Sujets can be seen on lanterns during Morgenstreich and in the costumes worn by Clique members during the Cortège. Most Cliques also distribute
Zeedel (flyers containing
ironic verse).
Räppli (Confetti) In the
Basel German dialect, confetti are called
Räppli. According to some local historians, the throwing of
confetti is a typical tradition from Basel that later spread to the rest of the world. While there is no proof for this theory, the amount of confetti used during Basler Fasnacht is huge in comparison to other carnivals. Originally, sweets in the form of small sugar balls known as
confetti (an Italian name, similar to the English
confectionery) were given away or thrown at the crowd during the parade. After this practice was prohibited in the 19th century, small shards of paper were used as a replacement. Until it was banned in the second half of the 20th century, it was also common to use straw instead of confetti, although wheat chaff is still sometimes thrown in some of the outlying towns and regions. Only single-coloured
Räppli (confetti) can be purchased in Basel.
Räppli is available in all possible colours, but never mixed. This was decided by the regional confetti manufacturers to prevent the once-common practice of reselling "used" confetti. Throwing mixed confetti is seen as very bad form, since one would have picked it up from the street, which is obviously an unhygienic practice. For spectators, there is the ever-present danger of being attacked from behind by a confetti-throwing Waggis, especially if not wearing a Carnival badge (
see below) known as a
Blaggedde (which sounds similar to
plaquette to French and English listeners). It is an unwritten law that masked and/or costumed participants are not subject to confetti attacks. By the evening, the routes of the Cortège are ankle-deep in confetti. Even so, Basel's sanitation department succeeds in clearing away this mess within two hours during the night, so, by the following morning, there is little evidence of the previous day's events. == Groups ==