NEW GLARUS - New Glarus had no trouble keeping Swiss authenticity in its music Sunday during Volksfest, celebrating Swiss Independence Day.
"The yodeling was perfect," said Daniela Weibel, 25, a Swiss national who is visiting Wisconsin.
Weibel and Marc Voegeli, 30, both from Switzerland, have been on a world tour and accompanied Voegeli's cousins, Linda and Franklin Gerke, Madison, to Volksfest.
Linda Gerke said her parents, John and Bertha Amacher, immigrated from Switzerland to Green County, and she has been coming to Volksfest since she was a child.
"It's my roots," she said. "I come to New Glarus to get my fix, my Swiss fix," she added.
Voegeli was glad attending the festival was coming near the end of his trip.
"It will make me homesick," he said. He and Weibel leave for Switzerland at the end of the month.
This year, attendees at Volksfest were honored with a solo performance by a member of the Hackbrett Youth Orchestra Switzerland, Emanuel Krucker from Bichwill, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
Krucker performed three pieces of music on the hackbrett, a hammered, string dulcimer, common in Appenzell.
The 17-year-old has been visiting his cousins Pat and Linda Faessler of Juda for a few weeks, and he brought the hackbrett along with him.
"I didn't want to lose my practice," he said.
Krucker performed in traditional Appenzeller attire: brown woolen pants; a white, embroidered dress shirt depicting cheesemaking in the mountains; and a colorfully embroidered orange vest, all handmade, he said.
He performed barefoot, he said, for several reasons.
The only shoes he brought with him were sandals, not conducive to lending authenticity to his outfit; and the dulcimer stand was slightly low for the tall, young man.
Extra height from shoes would have made playing the instrument awkward.
"It's OK," Linda Faessler said. "Barefoot is traditional too."
Several hundred people attended Sunday's musical festival, though attendance was down a bit from last year, according to Peter Etter, a Maennerchor member.
"We'd like to see five hundred people," he said.
Volksfest, hosted by the Maennerchor New Glarus, a 30-member men's chorus, began in 1929.
The New Glarus Kinderchor, Jodlerklub New Glarus.
Monroe Swiss Singers, Tim Pauli, Tony Zgraggen and Ernst Jaggi were among the Swiss musical performers Sunday.
"The yodeling was perfect," said Daniela Weibel, 25, a Swiss national who is visiting Wisconsin.
Weibel and Marc Voegeli, 30, both from Switzerland, have been on a world tour and accompanied Voegeli's cousins, Linda and Franklin Gerke, Madison, to Volksfest.
Linda Gerke said her parents, John and Bertha Amacher, immigrated from Switzerland to Green County, and she has been coming to Volksfest since she was a child.
"It's my roots," she said. "I come to New Glarus to get my fix, my Swiss fix," she added.
Voegeli was glad attending the festival was coming near the end of his trip.
"It will make me homesick," he said. He and Weibel leave for Switzerland at the end of the month.
This year, attendees at Volksfest were honored with a solo performance by a member of the Hackbrett Youth Orchestra Switzerland, Emanuel Krucker from Bichwill, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
Krucker performed three pieces of music on the hackbrett, a hammered, string dulcimer, common in Appenzell.
The 17-year-old has been visiting his cousins Pat and Linda Faessler of Juda for a few weeks, and he brought the hackbrett along with him.
"I didn't want to lose my practice," he said.
Krucker performed in traditional Appenzeller attire: brown woolen pants; a white, embroidered dress shirt depicting cheesemaking in the mountains; and a colorfully embroidered orange vest, all handmade, he said.
He performed barefoot, he said, for several reasons.
The only shoes he brought with him were sandals, not conducive to lending authenticity to his outfit; and the dulcimer stand was slightly low for the tall, young man.
Extra height from shoes would have made playing the instrument awkward.
"It's OK," Linda Faessler said. "Barefoot is traditional too."
Several hundred people attended Sunday's musical festival, though attendance was down a bit from last year, according to Peter Etter, a Maennerchor member.
"We'd like to see five hundred people," he said.
Volksfest, hosted by the Maennerchor New Glarus, a 30-member men's chorus, began in 1929.
The New Glarus Kinderchor, Jodlerklub New Glarus.
Monroe Swiss Singers, Tim Pauli, Tony Zgraggen and Ernst Jaggi were among the Swiss musical performers Sunday.