Schutzenfest

Most of the villages have a Schutzenfest each year. To the best of my understanding, the men in the village have a shooting contest. The winner has the honor of being king of the Shutzenfest festival. His wife is the queen. There is also a prince and princess, but I'm not sure how they're chosen. The king and queen have their home beautifully decorated. The king wears a military style outfit with lots of medals and carries a sword. The queen wears a beautiful formal dress. The prince and princess are dressed similarly, but the prince has fewer medals. There are also a group of attendants that are formally dressed. On the actual day of celebration there is a parade through the village, where they march through to get pick up the prince and princess followed by the king and queen. Then they march back through the town complete with a marching band made up of a wide range of people from the village - both male and female and a wide range of ages. They end up back at the king's house, where he provides beer for everyone. This happens a few times during the day, and sometimes on surrounding days. I'm not exactly sure of the details, but it's always fun atmosphere.

The king and queen's house