This old custom is celebrated every year in Bad Ragaz on the first Sunday in May. Of pagan origin, folklore offers various interpretations:
Driving out the winter spirits. With loud rattling of bells and tins the Maibär (May bear) takes the last signs of winter out of the lanes of Bad Ragaz. A water sacrifice is thrown over the bridge to the demons.
But equally the custom can be understood as a fertility ritual. The Maibär adorned in fresh, young green beech leaves is a sacrifice being brought to the vegetation demon. With the custom one hopes for a fruitful new year.
The Maibär is a cone-shaped frame made of beech foliage and decorated with flowers and multi-coloured ribbons. He dances through the streets and alleys of Bad Ragaz, surrounded by beggars and grotesques. The celebration ends at the upper end of the Tamina bridge where the Maibär is cast into the flowing river Tamina.
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More information about this old custom is obtainable from:
Swiss Folklore, journals 4-6, 11th year, 1921, page 37 (Swiss Society for Folklore)
Swiss People : habits/customs/ dwelling-places Eugen Rentsch Publishers, Erlenbach-Zürich 1933
