Krampus Parade in Old Town (Aldstadt) Christmas

We were very excited to go and see what Krampus was all about.. Being an old Austrian alpine folklore, it was the talk of the town for weeks in November in anticipation of their arrival.

We have now discovered that Krampus are all about dressing up in scary costumes and scaring off the evil spirits. They scare all the kids and adults too while they are at it as the costumers are very good.

There is a schedule of 10 towns where they make an appearance but other than that you don’t have any details so we picked Alstadt to attend on the 5th December and made our way to the location. I have never before been in such a sea of people! People people everywhere and I would normally be wanting to run out of the crowd feeling like it was going to be squashed like a pancake, but it was such a friendly and festive vibe. Everyone was chatting and looking forward to seeing the Krampus and there were so many nationalities all around speaking in different languages, the prominent ones being German, English and American which I was thoroughly enjoying.

We did have to wait longer than expected as it was meant to start at 5:00pm and ended up with the krampus in our area at 6pm but that is only because we were further down in old town as you really didn’t know what direction or where they were going to come in.

When we first found our spot the crowds were large but there was a considerable gap left in the middle for the krampus to come down in the parade but by the time the krampus arrived the space had vanished as the crowd size had doubled and the krampus were all up close and interactive with everyone because of this.

From first glance I saw the horns off in the distance and then fur and what I would call evil demonic masks, some with fangs and huge mouths and all with animalistic features. There was a lot of effort and detail put into the costumes and many of the krampus had built themselves up wearing hockey pads and shoulder pads under their outfits.

I had also heard that they whip you so I made sure I stayed back a row or two from the front but Jessy wanted to get right in the front where the action was and Ben was beside her. We saw many many people getting whipped, beanies pulled over their eyes, dragged out in the crowds, kids carried off but luckily we were not approached. Daniel wasn’t feeling too good at this point so he was on the ground watching and I was trying to protect him from getting trampled. Over 100 Krampus came down the parade and were jumping around with bells and sticks and scaring the crowd and everyone was having a fabulous time.

I love how Europe is so involved in their traditions. and it really felt a little like witches and goblins and a touch of medieval magic.

This carnival of evil dashing continues for 2 weeks throughout different areas and is a major beloved part of the Austrian advent culture punishing naughty behaviour before Christmas with the intention of bringing chaos to balance Santa’s kindness.