What better way to kick off the Christmas season than going to see a parade of horrifying demons, right? This year we did just that. And I must say - although, I still don't quite understand how demons fit into Austrian Christmas tradition, the parade was pretty awesome!

(In case you're interested, this is what wikipedia has to say about the history of Krampus and Perchtenlaufen.)

So some new friends of ours invited us to go with them to a little village called Bad Vöslau - a place they visit every year to experience a traditional Perchtenlauf. We took a train about 30 minutes south of Vienna and met up with them in a nice little cafe up on the hill of this quaint town. After enjoying a cup of hot chocolate, we made our way down to the beginning of the parade. We saw about 25 to 30 people dressed up in big furry animal skins and coats of wool
with large loud cowbells fastened about their waist to make lots of noise
and with big baskets on their back (in which to put naughty children).
From behind, I was reminded of "the Wild Things." "Let the Wild Rumpus start!"

One thing I noticed immediately was the smell. It smelled like a barn. Like stinky Goats. These costumes looked like they came straight from the animal - and they left all that animal smell on them on purpose. Krampus is supposed to be half goat - half demon, and the smell is all part of the act.

At the sound of the bell, they began to meander down the road... and we kind of just followed them! (Picture a small town parade - but with less crowds.)

This guy with the super tall horns is wearing a mask that weighs over 40lbs!

As they walked slowly through the village, they would stop and come to "greet" the onlookers or whip them gently (or Cooper would say not so gently!) with their whips. Some would try to get a scare out of the kids, but for the most part - these were friendly Perchten...
At the very beginning of the parade, one of the Perchten came right up to Tyler, crouched down and just looked at him. Tyler held still like a brave boy... but as more and more started to approach him, he got scared and cried.

Here's a video of the beginning of the parade, just before Tyler got upset:

They continued on down the road, making lots of noise with their chains, cowbells and drums.

Every once in a while they would stop and pose for a picture.
Their masks were amazing. They are all hand carved from wood and hand painted. Apparently these beauties are worth a lot of money.

Are you feeling the Christmas spirit yet?

After a short march down the road, we came to a Christmas market. They had a nice fairy tale theme, with lots of booths set up for kids to visit fairy tale characters. It was nicely decorated with Christmas lights and christmas trees. Small booths of hand-made goods and treats lined the walkways. We had a nice time walking around - but unfortunately it was getting too dark to get good pictures by this time.
But after a few minutes in the Christmas Market, an announcement was made that Saint Nicholas was coming!
And who accompanied him? Of course! More Perchten!

And this time they added some fire blowers. They would blow fire high into the air!
At one point a fire blower was so close, that I thought I may catch on fire! Ironically enough, as I was filming with my phone, the fire blower himself caught his own beard on fire! It was quite scary to see!

Toward the end of the parade, most of the kids were brave enough to take pictures with the Perchten.
Even Tyler chose one to pose with!
And he wanted to shake all of their hands and offered lots of high fives!
Is it weird to feel proud that my 4-year old son was brave enough to shake hands with the devil? :/

Overall, it was fun to experience a cultural tradition that is so far from our own. Rather than jingle bells and Christmas elves, we got Demons and doom with a stink... but it's all about perspective right?

I guess the idea here is that as the true spirit of Christmas comes into these towns, they chase away all of the dark evil of the Perchten. And in many ways, I can relate to that. Christmas time is always a time where people can finally put aside their differences, forget about the hate and anger in this world and find ways to honor Christ by showing love and kindness to each other. These days, the world is filled with a lot of loud ugliness - like these demons, but with the Light of Christ, we can overcome the darkness and experience the true love of Christ.

Light the World, y'all!

Merry Christmas!