I think this is really something that is typically Swiss.
We first came across Räbelichtli when Bethany was at primary school in Zumikon. She had told us that she had been carving a turnip into a lantern at school. We were all invited to the Räbelichtliumzug (parade of turnip lanterns). After meeting in the village square and lighting all the candles in the turnip lanterns, we set off to walk out of the village to a view point up on the hill above the village, while the children all sang songs together. We were amazed at the time that children aged four to seven years old were allowed to walk around the streets with naked candles.
I was discussing the event with the German conversation group I belonged to and our teacher mentioned that the biggest Räbelichtliumzug in Switzerland takes place every year in Richterswil, at the other end of Zürichsee. It was on my list of Swiss things to do but I had never actually got round to finding out when it took place. This year I happened to come across it in a Facebook story and, as I had the Saturday off work, we could go.
The Räbelichtli is to celebrate the end of the harvest time so the last crop to be harvested was used – the turnip!
The parade was due to start at 6pm and there was no parking available in Richterwil. We were in Rapperswil at the cheese festival before, so we took the train via Pfäffikon to Richterwil. It was very busy at Pfäffikon when we changed trains.
We arrived at 5:20pm and the first thing we did was look for people selling the ‘tickets’. These were round badges hung on string which we were supposed to wear round our necks so they were visible. They cost 10CHF each and could only be paid for with cash. Everyone attending was expected to buy one but they was no one actually checking that everyone was wearing one. The money is collected to pay for everything for next year.
We then went for a wander around the town centre to find out what was going on. All the houses were lit up with turnip lanterns on the window sills.
There were a number for stalls selling food and drink in the town centre. There were also displays of lanterns in the gardens around the Gemeindehaus.
It was really busy in the centre of town so we headed out of the centre towards the parade route.
We managed to find a spot at the side of the road near the beginning of the parade near the lake. The road gradually filled up as we got closer to the start of the parade. The information online asked people to leave dogs and pushchairs at home. We didn’t see any dogs, but there were people who obviously didn’t get the information about leaving pushchairs at home.
We were standing next to the area where the floats were lighting all the candles. We were able to watch the floats gradually light up.
At 5:55pm there was a loud bang and a firework was launched into the sky. As it exploded all the streetlights went out, to allow us to see the lanterns better.
Five minutes later another firework went off, the music from the bands started and the parade began.
This was the end of the first half of the parade. We had to wait a few minutes for the other half to arrive. This was the part that had started from the Dorf meeting point.
Visitors were asked not to use flashes when taking photographs. With it being so dark the flashes were blinding for the people taking part. As you can see from the video, not everyone got the information. If the parade marshals saw a flash go off they did stop and inform the person. I even saw one marshal take someone’s phone to show them how to turn the flash off.
Finally the ‘sweeper’ wagon rolled through and it was all over for another year.
We followed the sweeper along the road towards the station. At the station we decided to get a hot drink. There was a stall serving apple punch with or without calvados. We of course went for with. It was lovely and warming.
The station started to get really busy.
Unfortunately our train to Pfäffikon was delayed by a few minutes, meaning that we missed our connection. We waited for the next train and were home by 8:30pm.
https://www.vvrs.ch/arbeitsgruppen/raebechilbi/besucher#Festabzeichen
https://www.vvrs.ch/images/anlaesse/raebechilbi/2025/Raebechilbi_Flyer.pdf
Crouch Family On Tour 