It’s hot in Europe right now. Even in Switzerland, it’s hot. But we can take comfort in one thing: It’s apparently never too hot to yodel. At least, it’s not too hot to yodel if you have a handy fountain to cool off in.
City fountains became impromptu rehearsal spaces this weekend as yodelers at a festival in Basel, Switzerland, squeezed in last-minute practice while cooling off during Europe’s June heat wave.
At one fountain, a folk band dipped their toes in the water on Saturday, as festivalgoers clapped along or cooled their hands under the flowing stream.
From Friday to Sunday, singers and alphorn players filled the streets and spontaneous bursts of yodeling echoed through restaurants, where diners initially reacted with surprise before joining in.
In Petersplatz, in central Basel, seamstresses remained on call throughout the festival to repair the traditional Alpine folk costumes worn by participants in case of emergency.
This year, however, it was the fountain rehearsals that became the festival’s defining image, as the city battled record temperatures of around 39 Celsius (102 Fahrenheit).
If they get too happy about the cool water, Petersplatz may become Petersplash. I understand that there are so many yodelers looking to cool off, that they are forming some long lines. Fortunately, they’ve been very polite about it – they are forming an orderly orderly orderly queue. And, there can be no doubt that the dedicated yodelers will carry on, regardless of the heat. I’d expect a peak performance.
Yodeling is a big deal in Switzerland.
Around 12,000 performers and nearly 200,000 visitors traveled to Basel for the Eidgenössisches Jodlerfest, Switzerland’s national yodeling festival. It was the first time the northwestern Swiss city hosted the event since 1924.
Swiss yodeling was added to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December 2025, making this the first national festival since the tradition received international recognition. It is a distinction many Swiss take great pride in.
Rumor has it that there was a Shetland pony admitted to this year’s competition, but he had to drop out at the last minute due to a sore throat. He was, you see, a little horse. Human yodelers, strangely, seem to be immune to ear-nose-throat conditions. Maybe it’s because their voices are too high. On those rare instances where a yodeler does catch a cold, you’ll know when you hear them go “Yodel-ay-achoo.”
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Yodeling is a more far-reaching musical talent than many might think, fountains and heat waves notwithstanding. American country music features yodeling regularly. The great rock band, The Band, featured Levon Helm’s yodeling talents in the song Up On Cripple Creek, and the Dutch band Focus featured their amazing vocalist, Thijs van Leer, not only yodeling but engaging in all manner of vocal twists and turns. And, in eastern Iowa, where I grew up, there was a huge German presence that settled in the area in the mid-1800s – my great-great-grand-grandparents among them. You still hear polka music and yodeling echoing through those Eastern Iowa hills.
This seems appropriate.
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