Swiss National Day


Swiss National Day

August 1A nationwide celebration of the Swiss Confederation, observed with torchlight processions, fireworks, shooting contests, and folkloric events. The day commemorates the occasion in 1291 when representatives of the three original cantons of Schwyz, Uri, and Unterwalden met on the Rutli meadow and swore an oath of alliance and mutual defense to lay the foundations of the Confederation.
In 1991, yearlong 700th-anniversary festivities set different themes for the different language areas. A celebration of the Federal Pact of 1291 was the theme for the German-speaking region; a Four Cultures Festival, demonstrating cultural diversity, for the French-speaking region; and a Festival of Solidarity, illustrating Switzerland's role in the international community, in the Romansh- and Italian-speaking areas.
CONTACTS:
Embassy of Switzerland
2900 Cathedral Ave. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
202-745-7900; fax: 202-387-2564
www.swissemb.org
SOURCES:
AnnivHol-2000, p. 128
FestWestEur-1958, p. 224
NatlHolWrld-1968, p. 132

Celebrated in: Switzerland