{"id":234081,"date":"2024-07-31T10:28:29","date_gmt":"2024-07-31T10:28:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/1-agosto-svizzera-festa\/"},"modified":"2024-07-31T11:18:47","modified_gmt":"2024-07-31T11:18:47","slug":"august-1-switzerland-feast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/en\/august-1-switzerland-feast\/","title":{"rendered":"August 1st Switzerland in Feast"},"content":{"rendered":"

August 1st Switzerland in Feast<\/span><\/h1>\n

Every August 1, Switzerland celebrates its National Day, an important commemoration of the birth of the Confederation in 1291.<\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n
\"Swiss<\/a>
Swiss Alphorn players – Swiss National Day August 1st Interlaken Namrood, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A bit of history<\/span><\/h2>\n

National Day commemorates the Federal Pact of 1291, an agreement between the cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden who promised each other assistance in the event of an external threat. According to legend, representatives of the three founding cantons, known as \u201cThe Three Confederates,\u201d swore on the R\u00fctli meadows above Lake Lucerne to free the country from Habsburg rule. This pact is considered the oldest constitutional act in Switzerland.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the centuries, Swiss history has been deeply influenced by the Protestant Reformation, led by Ulrich Zwingli in Zurich and John Calvin in Geneva. Today, the Confederation consists of 26 cantons, with Canton Jura, created in 1979, as the youngest.<\/span><\/p>\n

National holiday for 30 years<\/span><\/h2>\n

August 1 did not officially become a public holiday in Switzerland until 30 years ago, thanks to a Sept. 26, 1993, vote that went into effect in the summer of 1994. Before then, it was up to the cantons to decide whether to consider August 1 a day of leave.<\/span><\/p>\n

The popular initiative \u201cFor a National Holiday,\u201d filed in 1990 by the Swiss Democrats (DS), was approved with 83.8 percent of the vote in 1994. Ticino was the canton with the highest support (93 percent). The proposal was supported by most parties, except the FDP, and received opposition from some business associations.<\/span><\/p>\n

The celebration of August 1 had already been in use since 1899 with bells and bonfires, but only after the 1993 vote did the day officially become a national holiday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Celebrations<\/span><\/h2>\n

National Day is marked by a series of events and traditions that reflect the country’s pride and unity:<\/span><\/p>\n