Fasnacht
Note: the 2027 date is not yet officially confirmed – please check with the organiser before visiting.
WhenFebruary 6, 2027
WhereMain Street (Community Hall), Helvetia, WV 26224, 26224 Helvetia
TypeCarnival
Fasnacht is an annual pre-Lenten festival held in the small Swiss-and-German-settled village of Helvetia in the Allegheny Mountains, on the Saturday before Fat Tuesday. Residents and visitors wear homemade masks to scare away Old Man Winter, parade through the village with lanterns, burn an effigy of Old Man Winter, and dance to Swiss and Appalachian music at the community hall. The custom traces back to a tradition begun in Switzerland in 1520 and was carried to West Virginia by the town's 1869 settlers.