Switzerland: The well-known parade in Küssnacht am Rigi begins when a cannon shot signals the start. First come men skillfully cracking long sheep whips. Next are the lighted iffelen, 180 young men dancing and swaying as they pass in their lighted headdresses. Surrounded by torchbearers, the bishop St. Nicholas himself comes with his two Schmutzlis. Trumpeters, playing a three tone melody, are followed by 700 Klausjäger, men in white farmer's shirts swinging huge cow bells from heavy straps. The 700 bells ring as one. The procession ends with 200 men blowing cow horns in a repeated rhythm of two short blows and one long one. The streets resound with all these sounds of horns blowing, brass bands playing, whips cracking, and bells clanging. The parade is repeated in the early hours of morning, finishing up by 7 am. This solemn procession with whips, bells, and horns is rooted in pre-Christian times when noise was used to banish darkness and evil. Today's whip-cracking heralds the arrival of St. Nicholas.
www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/switzerland