The Christmas season usually is full of lights everywhere to put everybody in a festive spirit. This year, however, in the face of a potential energy shortage this winter, the Verein Basler Weihnacht (Basel Christmas Association) will be deviating from the usual switch-on times for the Basel Christmas lights in order to conserve energy. But this doesn’t mean, Basel’s inner city will be left completely in the dark!

Firstly, the Basler Stadtlauf (Basel’s city run) will be taking place a week earlier than usual this year, on Saturday, November 19. The Christmas market does not start until five days later, on Thursday, November 24. The Christmas illuminations will be switched on during the city run along the route, which is a huge part of what makes the atmosphere of this run so special. In an effort to reduce power consumption, however, the Christmas lights will then be turned off again for the five days between the city run and the opening of the Christmas markets. Additionally, Christmas lights will not be switched on early in the morning, to save electricity. The switch-on times in 2022 are therefore as follows: from 15:00-22:30 daily from Thursday, November 24 up to and including Sunday, January 8, 2023. Should further power-saving measures become necessary towards the end of the year, the lighting could be switched off as early as January 2, 2023.

The aim of the association is to use these measures to make a contribution to the federal and cantonal electricity-saving campaign, while still ensuring an atmospheric Advent season for all Basel citizens and their visitors. They are asking the public to follow suit by only turning on private Christmas lights during the evening hours.

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