that’s a very nice poster that very handsome man has. and this is a screenshot from photojournalist wolfgang böhm’s flagship videocast, KRAMPUS LIVE FROM AUSTRIA. wolfgang and i connected last year (when he interviewed me about our lauf and translated it into german for his site) and i’ve certainly enjoyed all the things he’s shared with us. his photographic work, whether of krampus events or not, is always wonderful. he makes life in austria look like a dream. and this first videocast was a real treat. subscribe to the youtube channel for more — he is going to take us on such a trip!

then zander bruce wrote a two-part memoir about his experiences with BFS, from punter to chairman of the board — literally. it was so raw, so balls-out vulnerable, so open for the taking… so everything i love and hope our lauf is.

i got more interested in the BFS after finding zander, and being able to chat with him on facebook and in e mail. he was open and generous. his facebook posts were sometimes hilariously graphic.

when we decided in early 2013 that we would do one or two “big builds” for the 2013 philly lauf, we started to look at photos for inspiration and saw that BFS — among other places of inspiration — had articulated puppets, floats and costumes with mysterious skeletons.

now you never know what you’re going to get in this world when you do it, but i’m a big believer in asking for what i want. and i asked zander — what ARE those things made of? and, like so many things we’ve found this way — and shared — “trade secrets” really aren’t that protected in festal culture. and so zander gave me the magic password, which was: withies.

easy enough to get in the UK, these withies, but nobody ships ‘em overseas. it took a bit of work to find a US seller (who is actually a british woman in new york state) and so not only did we get to play with dried withies to start, but saw that live cuttings for cultivation were for sale. i thought… why not grow our own? after all, liberty lands is a park full of gardens.

so we did it.

watering was the best part.

by an odd coincidence, our krampuslauf fire dancers, lux arati, were in the park as well, making a video!

that made it extra fun.

krampuslauf happenings in early may, just as the world is coming into bloom. it was a lovely day. and i am happy to name our garden after our overseas friend zander, who inspired me and skilled us!

sometime last krampus season i found that specter studios of pittsburgh was releasing a krampus mask. even with our strong DIY ethic in philadelphia, nothing’s off limits, and i WANTED this krampus mask like i’d never wanted one.

when i looked at the rest of specter’s site, i was impressed with their work and their humor, and contacted them to ask if we could have a family tour on our next visit to pittsburgh. business and operations manager eanna holton was so friendly. we were excited!

when we got to specter, i opened a door onto the main working area, where masks and props lined tables and shelves. both of my kids started sobbing, refusing to enter the building — begging, in fact, not just to get back in the car, but to go back to philadelphia entirely. (this is probably a ringing endorsement for a lot of specter studio’s work, but in the moment it was pretty inconvenient.)

a gal named china came out to see me pleading and wheedling with the children, and suggested that we try a different entrance — a slightly less scary one. so we did that, and that is where we met eanna.

claudia got swooped up in eanna’s arms. she decided that seeing a few masks was worth it, for being carried around by someone who essentially looked just like daphne from “scooby doo”. we got upstairs and claudia yelled down to béla that it was safe up there. eventually, he came too.

CEO/president mark marsen of specter studios is so enthusiastic about their work and was so happy to show us around — even showing us brand new things they were making! and he was approachable and safe-looking.

some of the time.

we saw tables full of kid-sized half-masks that go to a line of costumes made by a boutique children’s studio called chasing fireflies. specter makes three masks for this company’s costume line.

we saw that specter studios stays ready for krampus year-round.

we saw the “positive” for the krampus mask i bought. (do you know i was the FIRST purchaser of specter studio’s krampus mask? literally number one!!)

and we saw racks and racks of bolts of fabrics and furs. mark told us about anthrocon, the world’s largest furries convention that is held annually in pittsburgh — really, one more wonderful thing about pittsburgh, that businesses of all types have embraced and accepted this convention and its attendees, with respect and fun. do i think that kind of thing would be possible in philly? absolutely not.

downstairs, we saw more masks and props and bodypieces, in various states of completion.

then sadly, my elder child was eaten by a lion.

we left with the kids’ having been given actual artists’ proofs of original masks.

do take a look at specter studios’ site. their work is really original. and, as eanna reminded us — we’re halfway to halloween!

our second krampussy stop in pgh was on saturday, at most wanted fine art gallery in lawrenceville. i had been communicating with gallerists nina gibbs (who is also the co-producer of pittsburgh’s 48 hour film festival) and jason sauer throughout the last few months. i knew nina was enthusiastic about bringing krampus to pittsburgh, and, well, we must face facts. pittsburgh will, if all goes as planned, be my family’s home lauf before too long.

i loaded up with books for inspiration, a mask-making tutorial, and hung out with nina, stamatis, fred, and castle. castle actually is a new member of the specter studios team as well, and is writing her THESIS on krampus currently! this mask and costume she made are entirely her own fabrication. that mouth MOVES.

it was fun to talk about all the core virtues and excitements of starting an event like this: let’s sew banners! how about floats! — it was so exciting to see a different space than liberty lands being used as a canvas for a krampuslauf event. and it was lovely to see the superb “let’s put on a show!” vibe that seems so specific to pittsburgh in action.

i wish like crazy i was going to pgh’s first lauf. alas, it is the same day as sinterklaas rhinebeck. a hard choice ahead! we will see what happens.

on saturday night, i found a krampussy piece of jewelry at a store called moon stones in dormont. if there had been more than one, i’d have bought more than one. there was one, and for now it’s mine, but since our relationship has been built in part on sharing our metaphysical castoffs, it will go to arun when it’s ready to.

pittsburgh, you are so ready for krampuslauf. but then again you seem ready for anything.

all shirts are printed with the discharge ink process. when your shirt arrives it will feel like a normal t-shirt — you will feel the ink sitting atop the design. but after a single wash, all that feel is gone. with your eyes closed, you cannot tell where the image is by touch. a very soft feel. and very nice shirts! ben claims this is his new favorite tee. i don’t know what’s the matter with his face. i don’t even care.

in the UNISEX tee (60% cotton, 40% poly), there are two colors: dark charcoal and black. ben is seen here in the dark charcoal.

on the dark charcoal shirt, the discharge pops very white. on the black, it does a little less so — the image is a little greyer, almost antiqued. it has a kinda japanese woodblock print look to it. it’s the one i prefer, but the difference is subtle enough that i was not able to get a photograph of the black one that really showed the difference.

the type on the front — and on the back, where it says liberty lands – is scanned from the wood type used to print the krampuslauf philadelphia 2012 letterpressed posters. because i nevah. evah. do anything. nice. and easy.

the t shirt is also offered in WOMENS cut, in 100% cotton, in a grey slightly lighter than the dark charcoal here.

ALL shirts have a red tongue!!!

you may remember that kids’ shirts were discussed. we had a few printed, but they did not have any black/dark-colored t-shirts in childs’ sizes. we used a lime green, and while it’s OK, it’s just a test and we did so few that i’m actually just saving them to give to the hardcore krampuslauf philly kids i know. so they are total collectors items and not for sale! (and so maybe we will reprint and be able to get kid sizes in the dark colors, but again, when it involves commerce i lose interest so quickly.)

(i know that might be a little disappointing to some who wanted them, but i can so clearly picture the moms who just clapped excitedly, because they know they’re on the freebie list for all the work they put into this event.)

because we wanted to see if we could make a little money to offset 2013 costs, these shirts are offered at the fundraising price of $25 (plus $5 priority mail shipping). (if you wish to order multiple shirts, please e mail us first so we can figure out shipping.) too much? don’t buy any! we’ll wear them all. (they really are nice shirts. oh, also, they are tagless, and feature a rather nice little surprise in place of the tag.)

To order, choose a style, color and size and click the appropriate link:

Unisex
Charcoal:                  Large   |   Extra Large   |   2XL
Black:                     Large   |   Extra Large   |   2XL
Women's
Dark Grey:    Medium   |   Large   |   Extra Large   |   2XL

(or if you are local just make a coffee date with me.)

that was chris steffler, from weinerwaldteufel. this time around, we hear from ronny, who has been with weinerwaldteufel since its inception in 2003. in a group where members range in age from ten to sixty, ronny is the group’s eldest member.

Whether in your Krampus group or others you know about… are all members generally from the same families? Do new people join? Do people have to live in the same village or area? In other words — if you are someone who is young and has never been in a Krampus group and has no family members who have done it, how would you know which one you could join or belong to?

It is different from group to group. In our group there are members from some families from the same area.

I am very curious about the preparation it takes to do a Krampuslauf event. How early in the year do you start planning? What do you have to do to plan?

The time for the preparation depends on the event. A visit to a family at home takes less time to prepare than our Krampuslauf at the Christmas market.

Do you have to have a new plan every year? Do you take the same routes or different ones? Do you try to plan something different each year or is it very traditional and similar each year?

It is very traditional and similar each year. We change the music . And look for new events at other Christmas markets or other locations.

How are the costumes cared for when they are stored? Are they all old costumes or are any of them new? Where do they come from?

The costumes have to be stored in a well-ventilated place. You can buy this costumes second hand from members of other groups or from special shops in Austria.

Your group seems to use other characters, not just Krampus. Other than St. Nicholas and the angel, what other characters do you have?

Witches, death, carrier of the basket, wood spirits.

For the actual event of the Krampuslauf, it is sometimes hard to tell just from videos online how it BEGINS and how it ENDS. Does it have a ceremonial moment at the start — and at the end — or does it just sort of happen?

First the witches and the wood spirits come, then the death follows, then the Krampusse come and try to catch the witches and the spirits, when St. Nikolaus and the angels come witches, spirits, death and Krampusse kneel down. Then St. Nikolaus distributes the gifts among the children. During this time the other characters move among the audience. At the end the whole group leaves the event together.

Other than the events in December, does your group stay in contact throughout the year? Do you attend social activities together or do charitable events?

During the year we meet each other 2 – 3 times at our meetings.

 ***

i am grateful to ronny for these insights. as with all interesting subjects, this still leaves me wanting more! firstly, how do people “sign up” for housecalls from krampus? (it’s particularly interesting to me, because for the two days in december of 2012 i was convinced we would be rained out, my plan B involved dispatching mobile units to private homes on demand. dispatching krampusse, angels and saints — maybe sitting in the bowling alley in nolibs — maybe this isn’t so much a plan B for me as a dream.)

secondly, i had indeed noticed from their site that weinerwaldteufel had witches. i am wondering exactly what “wood spirits” look like. the fact that a death figure appears is not entirely surprising, now that i have seen and read a traditional krampus play; i also noted the death figure in this painting by evalds dajevskis:

Winter Solstice Celebration/Kekatas, by Evalds Dajevskis, 1984

evalds dajevskis’ granddaughter, daina, is a friend of the lauf and she says, (via facebook), “My little dream for next year’s krampuslauf was to encourage some Latvians from the Latvian Society (neighbors, after all) to come in their folk dress (because we have it, and wear it!), and add a proper ķekatas celebration, as seen in the painting, to the lauf.” her grandfather’s work is on exhibit at the latvian society from january 26 through february 2.
another austrian friend, photojournalist wolfgang böhm, has stared a facebook page called krampus live from austria and recently asked folks what their favorite “krampus-creature” was, citing his own as the Habergeiß. well! i didn’t KNOW that there were various types and taxonomies of krampusse, and i hope to be finding out more about that, too!

it’s remarkable to me that even as this folklore spreads out (more characters; more types of subcharacter than any of us could originally identify) it also closes in (more and more people find ways to relate it to their own experience and cultural heritage).

thanks to ronny and weinerwaldteufel! i can’t wait to see what 2013′s season is like for them… but even in finishing this blog post i realized (thanks to a hint from chris steffler) that i still didn’t really find out what role ronny PLAYS during the lauf… now i DO know and will try to get him to reveal it — and his interest in it — in an upcoming post!!

as wolfgang says, “It’s a thing for mostly meant for children – yes, maybe even a little bit on an educational tool. It is of course moralistic, outdated – I think even a little barbaric – and needs to be adapted into the society it is supposed to speak to. However it is supposed to be an intense experience for people to bond over. It strengthens the bond even between generations because the children experience it very intensely and the adults remember how it felt for them when they were children.” he also says that the dialect in which this play is spoken is so isolated to this village that people literally 20m away might not know what is being said here!

be astounded at a video of a bunch of krampusse — and a perchten — doing gangnam style.

rewatch videos of the philly lauf….

as well as THIS amazing thing:

…research boombas…

find janet’s golum!(at sixth and south and a few weeks late but still)

…and pack up boxes of krampus craft stuff to send to sister cities portland and pittsburgh! (i will be doing a krampus-related workshop in pgh this spring, details will follow.)

with over twice as many attendees as in 2011, including people from at least five states (connecticut, virginia, new jersey, new york and pennsylvania) — hardcore folklorists, a busload of german language high school students, many returnees and MANY new faces — krampuslauf philadephia, was, indeed, bigger this year. there are hundreds of photos in the group pool on flickr to attest to that.
the more pared-down, although still growing, official set of photos for krampuslauf 2012 (with attribution to all the photographers who contributed to it) is here, and will be whittled down yet again into a book, as we did last year.

this is how the 2012 krampuslauf philadelphia made me feel, from the minute i got there:

although factually, at least before i got my mask on, it was more like this:

photo by steve schultz, earthtosteve.com

i was certainly happy to hear from so many people how the lauf exceeded their expectations. but i like to get surprises too, and this year i got a really good one.

even early in 2012, i wanted to make a more cohesive sound for the lauf — something unifying but not too hard to join in with. i put out the call to our facebook group, but nobody bit… i checked out some local sources (like adventuredrum) but they were busy… i even contacted the philadelphia chapter (if you call it a “chapter”) of the rainbow people!

nobody bit.

in the 11th hour, we had someone on facebook say she wanted to bring her marching apparatus, cowbells and timbales to lauf, and we were overjoyed, and then in the 11th and a half hour she couldn’t. easy come, easy go. maybe next year.

and sometimes you just don’t get everything you want… i mean, NO ONE has dressed up like the golem yet for janet and she’s put that wish out there to the universe two whole years running, right?

and we had a lot of ambient bell clanging and that was certainly good enough and i was having so much fun as we got ready for the procession that i didn’t notice this guy:

and i continued to not-exactly-notice him until we were somewhere on spring garden avenue, when i realized he was VERY authoritatively maintaining a heartbeat for the entire procession. while looking amazing in that fez and badge-festooned jacket.

so thank you, kyle, you were, as you know, my favorite gift of krampuslauf 2012.

and other moments were happening for other people. sam, who MISSED lauf last year (as in, drove in from staten island and got there after it was over — d’oh), not only made it this year but met up with a friend whom she’d originally met by buying a life vest from him online. it’s a little convoluted to me still, but i’m pretty sure daniel MADE the life vest, or at least seeing his work i’m convinced he could:

sam and her pal, costumier daniel moyer.

around the grounds, we maintained some of the traditions we had begun last year.

we had our “alpine” backdrop…

photo courtesy of believe it tour (believeittour.com)

and our head-in-a-hole. you HAVE to put your head in the hole; you HAVE to. (thank you, sue!)

and we also had our share-box, where we keep extra horns, glow-necklaces, noisemakers, etc. this year we encouraged people to take things home as souvenirs, but i was surprised to see that the box had new surprises IN it when we brought it home — including a few new masks and noisemakers! gotta love a share-box that has good give and take.

this year, we also had a food truck — guerilla ultima (delicious and just right for eating by the fire)

and fire/belly dancers, the really great lux arati (one of whom was my kids’ preschool teacher, thus our connection). (this photo by tom coombe:)

all our press this year was word of mouth other than one piece on delaware online mentioning us. we don’t promote. i really don’t know how people even find out other than facebook. to see people i’d only met online, or had never heard of at all, in handmade masks and costumes, was astounding. people brought their best.

i want it to always be clear, though, that as fantastic as that might be, that the most modest and home made and even last minute efforts are often just as memorable, and, well… haunting. and why have neat seams or perfect execution when you can go for memorable hauntingness on the cheap?

yes, i’m talking about “the ghost of krampus present”, my backpack puppet. i’ve never made a backpack puppet before this. and he was easy to scoff at, if you were that kind of person. but honestly — i know i’m pretty good at a lot of stuff already. i really wanted to do something i didn’t know much about. and i wanted it right out there, for anybody — anybody who comes to krampuslauf or may ever come to krampuslauf — to see as a big, wobbly example. MAKE THINGS!!!! make up stories and make them into physical objects THAT OTHER PEOPLE CAN POSSIBLY ENJOY WITH YOU!!! or in spite of you. i don’t know if there’s an afterlife, there might be, but if there is i’m pretty sure it’s overwhelmingly incorporeal. there’s no knitting, no markers, no boxes and tape. “MAKING STUFF” isn’t just the stupid time-killing biproduct of our mortal lives — IT’S THE THING WE CAN DO THAT NOBODY BUT LIVING MORTALS CAN DO! RIGHT NOW! so do NOT be afraid. i LOVE how many really A-game costumes we had this year — things that should have been in museums, rightly, in some cases, and some masterful handwork — but this is never going to turn into a big contest. nobody needs another contest. be a grocery-bag-head krampus. that is no less wonderful.

the ghost of krampus present puppet was a shambling, overcompensating goof of a krampus. he wanted to please. or at least he wanted to be able to get something or someone in his line of sight for long enough to make a new, good impression on it.

photo by steve schultz (earthtosteve.com)

that invitation to the processional puppet making workshop in the italian alps showed up in my inbox just a few days too late…

(there was, by the way, a man inside that puppet. just one, mostly sightless and i suppose eventually very tired man, the whole time. i am grateful to him.)

back to my whole percussion fixation… although my post about stumpfiddles in may proved out of scope for the 2012 maker workshops… look what (and who) showed up!

robert, a wonderful belsnickle who was frantically searching for horse chestnuts the night before lauf (and who knew why someone had put that onion in the tree last year) not only had a stumpfiddle (which he calls a boombah, in pa dutch), we now have a lead on a source for how to make them.

after krampuslauf, our family went where they always go after a big event — the oregon diner.

“Really, Béla? You think that Krampus is actually a symbolic externalization of post-partum depression and paternal fear of a loss of intimacy brought on by child rearing? Please, elaborate…”

here are some things and people i want to reiterate our gratitude for…

big damn heroes workshop in tennesee. total strangers leaving a comment on our facebook page: “hey krampuslauf philadelphia, want some horns?” — and not only did they share their tutorial with us, but they made horns for us to use, a pair of which went to the giant puppet.

it was amazing enough when jeffrey magut and his son showed up last year from connecticut… but this year he sent us a box full of fabulous tiny krampus bells — perfect for our handpuppet workshop!! he also included a piece of leather from his own mask making for this year… just an indication to me that he totally gets it.

because bits of material are what we frequently share with krampuslauf PDX in portland oregon:

that’s this year’s gift from arun: a swatch of printed fabric, a wool tongue, a knitted length of cord, all dyed with pokeberries in a pumpkin over three nights during samhain. i saw someone trot off with the tongue at maker workshop; the fabric and cord got worked into my frau perchta tabard and spinning distaff. i am always grateful for my friendship with arun, particularly during december though!

more thanks to cat and bomber from virginia, who sent hand-made leather tongues that were used in every child’s handpuppet… brooke of bog berry handcrafts who left carded wool in my door, also for puppet-making… marva from seattle who sent handmade printing plates for printing cards and ornaments…

and michael esordi of believe it tour, who did this:

to receive this kind of generosity throughout the season leading up to krampuslauf was amazing enough. but to see almost every single one of these people AT krampuslauf was really, well, kinda transcendent.

and very big thanks, of course, to the families and friends of liberty lands, who don’t HAVE to let krampsulauf happen there, much less mull wine, hang decorations, wear giant ungainly blinding puppets, or subject their children to monsters — but they do. i am not sure what living in philly would be like for our family, without knowing these people. we would have missed out on a lot more than krampuslauf.

i’ve lived in the “straight” christmas world for four decades prior to my krampus involvement and never saw this kind of giving – this attitude of the more you give, the more you have — until the “devil of christmas” came into my family’s life. so much of what i enjoyed this year was in what led up to the event itself — the making, the working together, the new connections with people — that there were days before the lauf when i thought, “you know, if we get rained out, this really was all worth it anyway.” krampuslauf philly is just not a zero sum game. (and then i came up with a rain contingency plan that was so UTTERLY fabulous i’m still almost sorry we didn’t get to use it… but who knows, some day we might!)

and so many people said the words to me: “i already can’t wait until next year!” … neither can i. i’m already pretty sure there will be some interesting lateral moves and real surprises… and gifts. and i still don’t feel like i’ve finished thanking everyone. what if the best way to thank everyone was start to think about what a great time we could have when we all see each other again next year…?

ben tried on the big backpack puppet today. this was our first attempt at making a backpack puppet and we aren’t sure he’s 100% finished — he gets handed off tomorrow to one more creative household, and so he may or may not retain the large “little orphan krampus” eyes, but as janet as pointed out, they make him look a bit like no face from spirited away. he also kinda looks like gonzo. he also kinda looks like a large amazon box, because mostly he is.

i had come up with an idea for who i wanted this particular krampus to be before we started making him in earnest last saturday. i had begun seeing a sort of “ghost of krampus present”… a krampus who had suddenly, and without a whole lot of forethought, decided that he didn’t want to be punitive anymore — and wanted to love you. so he’s a little… bad at it. ungainly. poor judge of personal space. with a holly-spewing tongue.

here is my husband, trying on the puppet today. if he were not going to be wearing his own krampus costume on saturday, i’m sure he’d be happy to wear the puppet. but again, he never says no to me. ben and i more or less stopped giving each other christmas presents when we started krampuslauf. even keeping it lo-fi and on the cheap takes something, and ben, again, just happily says yes. he is here for me when i am worried, he has never ONCE said “gee, i dunno about this…” and although ben is a shy and quiet person, he got out there last year, put on a krampus costume, and worked it — with a lot of personality. our kids are so proud to have krampus for a daddy.

here’s a video of ben trying out the puppet for the first time. not every detail is filled in here, and a black-clothed puppeteer and a little sundown will work on our favor. but you can’t deny how wonderous this is. and if you can… i don’t know what to do with you.

it’s hard to say how long anyone can bear the physical duty of wearing the puppet, so if you’ve ever wanted to wear one, let us know — maybe folks can take turns! in a way i’m worried he’ll fall apart any moment but no matter what, i can say that instead of spending time at the mall this christmas season, i made a giant krampus puppet with my family and friends.

the horns, by the way, are the big pair sent to us by big damn heroes workshop. as planned.