Light-Bringing Figures in St. Gilgen

Light-Bringing Figures in St. Gilgen.

These characters, traditional in the Salzburg area, are the bringers of light following the dark period of the year. People dressed in white costumes, go from house to house in the towns and villages. They carry with them huge illuminated rattles, very colourful and beautifully decorated creating a spectacular sight. As the procession moves along in rhythmic step it forms circles, squares and spiral figures shaking bells and the rattles which are decorated with stars, circles, semi-circles, figures, churches and the year’s date, all glowing in the dark of the night.