Buergbrennen - Bonfire Festival

Buergbrennen, also known as the Faaschtefeir (Lint Event), is Luxembourg's most spectacular bonfire festival, held on the Sunday following the Carnival. It is one of historic and most famous festivals in Luxembourg, which began as a pagan tradition thousands of years ago and is meant to actually chase away the winter. Locals build Buergen atop slopes out of logs, hay, and branches, which are then lit on fire (under the supervision of the fire brigade, of course).

The buergen are lit with much pomp, and the honor of lighting the match is usually given to the commune's most recently married couples or local celebrities. There are often torchlight processions coming up to the pyre before the blaze is lit. Traditional meals like green bean soup and mulled wine are popular at holiday gatherings. The blazing cross may appear shocking at first, but it merely represents the end of winter and the arrival of spring. The event was beginning to lose its "flame" as a popular celebration in France and Germany, but Luxembourg took the lead in bringing it back.

When: March

Where: Luxembourg city