Event, Field Notes

Fasnacht 2024

Posted by West Virginia Folklife Program on

On Saturday, February 10, 2024, residents of Helvetia, West Virginia celebrated their 57th Annual Fasnacht. Embracing creativity and revelry, Fasnacht is a pre-Lenten tradition that dates back to 1520 in Switzerland and celebrates the changing of the seasons. The event welcomes locals, other West Virginians, and guests from far away to bring their homemade masks and participate in the mask contest, lampion parade, and the burning of an effigy of Old Man Winter.

In recent years, Helvetia has seen an increase in visitors due to the videogame Fallout 76 and some of the masks seen at Fasnacht reference the game. Launched in 2018, Fallout 76 designed its virtual environments based on sites in West Virginia, including Helvetia.

  • A crowd of masked people stand outside in a large circle during the mask contest. Foreground: A person with a wooden box as a mask with two holes cut for eyes and a square for a mouth, with what looks like a wood stove for a hat.
    Mask contest during Fasnacht 2024 in Helvetia, West Virginia. Winners receive a handmade Swiss flag.
  • Foreground: a person with a mask that looks like an old man with a corn cob pipe and a straw hat stands beside a person taking a selfie with a mask of a cat. Background: masked people standing outside and a white church next to a forest.
    Mask contest during Fasnacht 2024 in Helvetia, West Virginia.
  • A crowd of people stand outside during the mask contest. One with a skull and a colorful quilt-style dress, another that looks like a clown with a banjo, and one that looks like a clown.
    Mask contest during Fasnacht 2024 in Helvetia, West Virginia.
  • A crowd of masked people stand outside during the mask contest.
    Mask contest during Fasnacht 2024 in Helvetia, West Virginia.
  • A crowd of people stand outside during the mask contest.
    Mask contest during Fasnacht 2024 in Helvetia, West Virginia.
  • Two masked people. One that is wearing a mask to look like a mule, the other to look like a Billy Bob's Wonderland character with brown fur.
    Mask contest during Fasnacht 2024 in Helvetia, West Virginia.
  • A crowd of people stand outside during the mask contest. Foreground: a person wearing an enormous mask of a sad face with horns and a crocheted afghan blanket over their shoulders.
    Mask contest during Fasnacht 2024 in Helvetia, West Virginia.
  • A crowd of people stand outside during the mask contest.
    Mask contest during Fasnacht 2024 in Helvetia, West Virginia.
  • Masked people stand outside in front of a white tent.
    Mask contest during Fasnacht 2024 in Helvetia, West Virginia.
  • Two people smiling and wearing handmade colorful hats that look like toucans holding one small Swiss flag together.
    Mask contest during Fasnacht 2024 in Helvetia, West Virginia. Winners receive a handmade Swiss flag.
  • Foreground: Masked people stand for a photo outside. Background: a small white church and forest.
    Masks inspired by Fallout 76, cryptids, and other creative looks at Fasnacht 2024 in Helvetia, West Virginia.

Visitors who paid admission received either a hozablatz or rosette, which are traditional fried treats passed down from the Swiss and German families who settled Helvetia in 1869. Proceeds from the event benefited the village’s restoration, development, and archives. Volunteers, local businesses, and the Helvetia Restoration and Development Organization made this extraordinary event possible.

A fried doughnut rosette in the shape of a flower.
People stand outside during a tour facing old log buildings.
People walk outside, some wearing masks. A walking bridge with lights and a line of Swiss flags over head is visible. The road with cars and a blue building in the background.
An effigy of Old Man Winter made out of fiber materials hangs in a gazebo outdoors as two children stand beside it wearing round colorful masks.

This year, in addition to the traditional festivities, the event featured local West Virginian artists and craft vendors at the Community Hall, a jam session at the Star Band Hall, a tour of the town and its museum and archives, and an engaging discussion led by Clara Lehmann about the history of Fasnacht and Lent inside the Zion Presbyterian Church. The event ended with a square dance facilitated by Becky Hill and local callers, featuring Monroe County fiddler Tessa McCoy & The State Birds.

Outside at night, a parade walks over a bridge. Swiss flags hang on a line overhead.
Outside at night, a parade of masked people with lighted candles pass by the Helvetia Star Band Hall.
At night, a crowd surrounds a bonfire and takes photos of the flames.
Inside a dance hall, colorful streamers overhead. A string band plays in the background on a stage for dancers in the foreground.

For further reading about Fasnacht and Helvetia:

Former WV State Folklorist Emily Hilliard wrote “One Year in Helvetia West Virginia” for The Bitter Southerner (2017). More recently, she dedicates two chapters about traditional food practices in Helvetia and Fallout 76 in her book Making Our Future: Visionary Folklore and Everyday Culture in Appalachia (2022). See also David H. Sutton’s book Helvetia: The History of a Swiss Village in the Mountains of West Virginia (2010) and the Augusta Heritage Center’s “Helvetia: The Swiss of West Virginia” (1993) on YouTube.

Photo and text by Jennie Williams
Photos edited by Vanessa Peña and Jennie Williams

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