This ancient springtime and fertility festival celebrates the reawadening
of nature, the victory of the active Spring over the tired Winter. The egg
as the symbol of fertility is therefore the central point of this traditional
custom.
The so called "fight" is, as a rule a competition between two
parties. The "Picker" has to collect as many eggs as he can, which
are laying on sawdust in the roadway and throw them into a basket or catching
blanket filed with chaff. His opponent, the "Runner" has to run
a certain route and return before all the eggs have been collected.
The Springtime Egg Fight festival is celebrated in Effingen, in the Canton
of Aargovia, Switzerland on the first Sunday 8 days after Easter or "White
Sunday". The Harbinger of the Spring, being the "Egg Boy"
and the "Horseman" come into conflict on this day. The Horseman
has to call in at all the taverns in the surrounding villages. He has to
delay his ride until all the eggs have been collected. The Horseman represents
the Winter and must submit to the "Egg Boy" as the representative
of the Spring.
The picturesque scene is vivified by historical, strikingly ancient and
usually costumed and masked figures - a colorful mixture of natural and
forest spirits and figures of human form. There two main rival groups, which
in lively revelry and grotesquely crude fun symbolically expel th Winter
and exuberantly welcome the Spring.
The actors and the spectators repair to the village taverns after the
festivities. The Losers have to buy a round, but all can enjoy the omelettes
served afterward.