"Blaggedde" Fasnacht Fundraiser Kicks Off; Basel Confectionery Supplies Airline; All Star Guests Confirmed For Davos

News For 9 January 2024

Hopefully, the 2023 holiday season hasn't left you too exhausted to think about the soon-to-begin Fasnacht carnival in Basel.  The metal brooch-like badges called "Blaggedde" by Baslers have gone on sale, proceeds from which support the "Clique" and festivities during the event which will start on the 19th of February.  This year's "Blaggedde" pays homage to the 150th anniversary of the Basel Zoo, and a special set of commemorative badges have been minted, proceeds from which will be shared with the Zoo.  The standard set of badges, ranging from bronze to bijoux, will feature a relief of a bird playing piccolo while seated in an open birdcage.

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Basel confectioner Beschle, has been selected by Swiss airline Edelweiss to provide chocolates for its passengers.  Beschle was founded in 1898, over 125 years ago in Basel, and has been known for premium chocolates and pastries since.  A special edition of its pralines have been commissioned by Edelweiss to be provided to its business class travelers.

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If you haven't made plans for next week, and have an extra 50,000 francs laying around, you may want to register to attend the 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos.  The theme for this year's confab of the rich and powerful is "rebuilding trust" - a reference to the need for nation states to work together and avoid further escalation of global conflicts.  Some of the "headline guests" are UN Secretary General António Guterres, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, OpenAI (ChatGPT) Ceo Sam Altman and Basel local Vas Narasimhan of Novartis will join over 60 heads of state and other business luminaries.