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Transcription: [00:34:22]
This unusual one, called Fasching, is taking place in the picturesque village of Bad Aussee in the province of Styria.
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And these men, wearing what look like baby bonnets and nightshirts, represent the white, cold winter. They try to be as ugly and noisy as possible, banging on pots and pans and drums, and blowing on horns all day long.
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In contrast to the stark, ugly winter is spring, bright, gay and colorful. These fabulous costumes are only found in this section of the country. They're called flinserls which in the local dialect means sequins. All the designs and work are done by hand, and you can imagine how many long winter nights it must take to sew on all of these sequins. Also, how much strength it must take to wear one of these costumes for any length of time, as they weigh over 30 pounds.
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The flinserls go about the town, much to the joy of the children, pouring out nuts.
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This is symbolic of spring, the time of the year when the earth starts pouring forth its fruits and newness of life.
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This beautiful drum means it's time for the parade to start.
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The band is very proud of it's Napoleonic costumes and fake mustaches, a leftover from when Napoleon's armies were in Austria.
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The first Fashing took place in Bad Aussee over 200 years ago, and still there are few of the sequined costumes left that date from that far back.
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This large group of glittering flinserls climaxes the festival. They carry their bags filled with nuts to give away for the last time. That is, until next winter, when the whole thing will start all over again.