OLMA

OLMA is a big event here. And if I understand, it is basically a county/state fair. There is a lot to do with agriculture- "showing" farm animals and such.  It's also similar to Oktoberfest in that there is a big emphasis on beer drinking. And there's a midway!!
  The big opener to OLMA was a parade through the old town area of St. Gallen on Saturday morning.  This was fascinating!  They had floats representing different areas and industries of Switzerland- maybe just the East part of Switzerland- maybe even just the St. Gallen Canton- knowing German would be helpful to figure that out.

 The street just before the parade

 A scout helping to keep the parade going smoothly

 There was an Indonesian man standing next to us and every time one of these bread guys walked by they waved their feather broom in his face. Racial profiling.

 Oh yes, they are really playing those Alpine horns.

 For once I can say that Eli participated in something!  He happily watched most of the parade :)

One of the neatest parts was the different foods that were passed out- oranges, buttered bread, cheese, tea, hot chocolate, salami, and the requisite (in my mind) candy. They were much stingier with the food than the American parades I have watched. We were passed over for most of the goodies. 

 There was some lag between floats, so we would often smell what was coming food wise- great way to experience a parade.

 Girls in traditional dress

 Several clubs participated in the parade, too.  There was a circus school, steel drum band, bagpipers, jump ropers, and more.

 I really don't know what this was supposed to represent...

 "Gnomes" and fir trees

 That is another Alpine instrument

 Trolls. These guys terrified my kids. Along with the ones wearing blackface- yes, really.

There was more parade, but our camera battery died.

   The other interesting thing that happened while watching the parade was that I was interviewed for the radio. A guy walked up to us with a microphone and started speaking to us in German, once we explained that we spoke English, he decided to go ahead with the interview in English.  He wanted to know if we were in town just for OLMA (no), how we liked OLMA (all we've seen is the parade so far, but it is fascinating), what we liked best (the traditional dress and displays), and if we would be back again for OLMA (uhh, maybe?)
  After the parade, we grabbed lunch, which happened to be the best chicken Kenny's ever eaten. And that is the only reason I mention it, because HE keeps mentioning it. (It was really good- slow roasted, fall off the bone, curried, greasy, yumminess). After nap time at home we headed back out to find the actual OLMA Festival.  We found it, but we didn't have a plan of action. Us +  no plan of action + big crowd = misery.  We walked around the midway, ate a candied apple and chocolate banana, snapped at each other and/or cried and went back home.
   On Sunday we regrouped, came up with a strategy, and tried again with much greater success. Rides were ridden (by Jackson and Kenny), fair food was eaten (fried apple rings, falafel, gyro, and hot dogs- what else?) and cheap toys were ogled.
  We have not made it to the "Halls" portion of OLMA. Our neighbor says it's not so great for young kids. There are farm animals on display, which my kids think are great in theory, but tend toward terrified when seen in person. So we probably won't get to that part.