Maibär - Living custom in Bad Ragaz

If you visit Bad Ragaz on the first Sunday in May, you will be amazed, as the 'Maibär' romps through the alleys of the village. The May Bear is a cone-shaped frame made of beech leaves, decorated with flowers and coloured ribbons. He dances, surrounded by beggars and plouters, through the streets and alleys of Bad Ragaz. The custom comes to an end when the May bear is handed over from the upper Tamina bridge to the floods of the rushing mountain stream Tamina.

Supporting programme:
12.55 p.m.: Clubs get ready at the assembly points
1.00 p.m.: Departure to the village bath; first joint dance performance; afterwards the groups swarm according to the route division from 13.45 /
13.55 / 14.35 o'clock: Individual May bears come - depending on the route - for another small dance at the village bath 15.30 o'clock
: From assembly points staggered inlet on the Dorfbadplatz - 15.45 o'clock last dance of all three May bears in front of the village bath; followed by departure with the big club Maibären to the Upper Tamina Bridge
4.00 pm: "Showdown" on the Upper Tamina Bridge

During the entire duration of the move - and of course beyond - the association Maibärfonds Bad Ragaz entertains local and foreign onlookers at the village bath.