Turnip Lantern Festival

WHERE: Richterswil, Switzerland
WHEN: 11 November 2023

Turnips are vegetables with poor nutritional properties, and not particularly tasty.
Often, in everyday language, this vegetable is approached in an offensive way towards someone with “little brain” (turnip head).

Thinking that an event dedicated to this humble vegetable might exist somewhere in the world might seem like pure utopia. Nevertheless…
Every year, in the middle of autumn, the Turnip Lantern Festival is celebrated in several cities in Switzerland.
An event that is celebrated punctually every second Saturday in November.

The exaltation of the vegetable, in this case, lies not in eating it, but in the appearance and final form it takes on during the parade.
More than 25 tons of turnips expertly carved and assembled to the shape of a tiger, or a flower.

And thousands of candles ready to illuminate the compositions, giving the whole event a magical and surreal aspect.

Photo ©, Hellebardius

PRACTICAL INFO

THE PLACES OF THE EVENT

The Turnip Lantern Festival takes place in many areas of Switzerland. In Richterswil, it reaches its maximum expression.
The town is located on the shores of Lake Zurich. From the latter it is just under 30 kilometers, reachable by car and by train (line S8).

The S2 railway line connects Richterswil directly with Zurich International Airport in about 45 minutes.