Tschäggättä & mask carving

The masked carnival figures typical in the Lötschental, the so-called Tschäggättä, appear in the period between the Catholic holiday of Candlemass and Shrove Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday). Every evening after work these wild-looking figures streak through the valley and hunt down and frighten anyone who is still out on the streets.

The Tschäggättä wear old clothes outside-in, with the fur facing outwards; they also carry two sheep or goatskins held in place around the loins by a leather belt on which a cow bell («Trichla») usually hangs.

Their feet are often clad in sacks that are bound around their legs to enhance the wild appearance of their clothing but also to prevent the wearers of the masks from being identified by their shoes or by their foot-prints in the snow.

The Tschäggättä wear gloves, formerly made of «Triäm» (remnants of wool that remained in the weave). The figures wear over-sized, grotesque and sometimes brightly-painted masks made of pine, the back of which is covered with sheepskin or goatskin. A stick completes the costume.