Melcher, Zaggeler and Zottler – dozens of participants wearing hand carved masks and wonderfully designed costumes will parade down the streets of Rum during the grand 2019 Muller Parade.
A Tirolean carnival custom that is deeply steeped in tradition are the huge parades in the villages west of Innsbruck. In February 2019, Rum near Innsbruck will play host to the Muller Parade, which is held here every five years. The traditional event celebrates the natural changes of seasons with wild figures who parade in their traditional and eleaborate costumes and masks.
These most characteristic mask characters of the village carnival tradition parade through the village as Halbweiße, Melcher, Zaggeler and Zottler to symbolise the transmission of the four seasons. The act of “Abmullen”, a more or less firm slap on the shoulders, is seen as an honour and recognition, as well as being a fertility ritual.
However, other wild figures such as the buck, witch and bear groups, or the Fasser-Roessl, are important parts of the Rum carnival tradition, too. During the Muller procession on February 24, 2019, the village humour also gets its fair share of the deal, and community life in the village as well as prominent current events are targeted on numerous procession floats.