It will be a hot summer – at least according to an exploding snowman.
The traditional Böögg – which is a snowman effigy with explosives in its head – took just under 13 minutes to explode when set on fire.
The annual tradition is normally held in the centre of Zurich – but to avoid crowds, the show was transferred to an isolated area in canton Uri – and televised.
It’s said the quicker the explosion happens – the better the summer will be. In the past few years, the average time has been around 16 minutes – yesterday it was three minutes earlier.
This year’s ceremony has an added poignancy. It started in 1890 when a decorated doll was burned in Zurich in an effort to drive out the Russian flu which killed around a million worldwide. At the time the world population was only 1.5 bn. Now it’s almost 8bn.
Italy angered at decision to release fire bar owner
Nightclub fire exit locked
No to 10 million initiative would harm the economy
Sick days climb in 15 years
Warning of jams in February
Careful of vignette scams
