Fasnacht - Mardi Gras in West Virginia

In New Orleans and other places in the world, the period before lent is celebrated as Mardi Gras.

West Virginians in the city of Helvetia have their own version of Mardi Gras called Fascnacht. This celebration was brought to West Virginia in the 19th century by Swiss immigrants. Fasnacht is a combination of the celebrations of Mardi Gras with the Winterfest of Switzerland.

The residents of Helvetia prepare for Fasnacht by deep frying donuts, rosettes, and hosenblatt pastries in lard and by decorating the town hall with Swiss lampions (paper lanterns with candles) and ribbons. The hang an effigy of Old Man Winter by the neck in the middle of the dance floor and create elaborate masks.

At dark on the Saturday before Ash Wednesday, the people of Helvetia don their masks and decorate their homes with scary figures to frighten away Old Man Winter. They congregate at the local restaurant, light the lampions and march to the dance hall, where they parade around the dance floor as their masks are judged. Then they dance schotisches, waltzes, polkas, and squares until midnight, when the effigy of Old Man Winter is taken down, roughed up, cursed at and thrown into a bonfire and burned, showing that it is time for Winter to end and Spring to begin.