Basle, Switzerland  - At exactly 4 am (0300 GMT) Monday, with many thousands crowding the streets of the old part of Basle city, the power company killed the lights and a cannon burst was sounded, just as the first percussionists beat their drums, kicking off the ancient Fastnacht festival.

Through the darkened and winding alleys and roads, groups, known as cliques, wearing ghoulish masks and elaborate outfits, paraded up and down, with only the lights of their hand painted lanterns, some small enough to be worn on the head while others were several metres in size, to guide them.

"This is Basle," exclaimed Allen, a native of the commercial city. "This is the real city," he added.

While during most of the year Basle exhibits a more sombre atmosphere, for three days the town takes on a whole other persona, with satire and the absurd reigning supreme.

Residents, in the unique Swiss-German dialect of Basle, make up limericks to mock politicians, religious figures and anything else they can poke fun at. They sing them aloud in bars and on the streets, taking full advantage of the freedoms allowed by the festival.

The large lanterns, carried or pushed by two or four people, generally depict a theme, in bright colours lit up from the inside, ranging from local politics to global issues and anything in the middle that might have caused the makers to laugh.

"We wanted to touch on all the bad things, all the problems, but also keep it funny," said Chris, a member of a large clique made up of around 100 people.

His group's large lantern, over two metres in size, showed on the front US President Barack Obama, in a Messianic pose reaching out to save the world, while the back portrayed many of the problems he faces, from the financial crisis to conflicts in the Middle East, all drawn in an exaggerated cartoon style.

"We get together and we think up the theme and then we have to work on the lantern. The actual making of it can take over four weeks," Chris said, running off to grab a beer before the clique started its next tour.

Another group, less hopeful perhaps, drew a large smiling planet Earth holding a gun to its head, getting ready to pull the trigger.

The groups parade with the lantern as the centrepiece, but the men and women, all wearing hideous looking masks and corresponding full body outfits chosen from wardrobes dating from anytime in the last millennium, walk behind the lit-up work, banging drums and playing piccolos in a most serious manner.

"I only learned to play the piccolo because of Fastnacht," said Allen, aged 52. "We practice all year round, except for the first three months after Fastnacht."

He was sitting with Kurt, a man twenty years his elder, who had not missed a beat the entire morning. They are members of the Greenhouse People Clique, who came together on a farm.

Other lanterns lashed out at consumerism, the Swiss army, lust and plastic surgery. The troubled banking giant UBS also got its share of spite and was shown on several lanterns, including one where the letters were branded onto a pig.

The marching takes place in no particular pattern and traffic jams are quite common as groups deal with logistics at intersections as they crisscross each other, their visibility limited by the darkness and their large masks.

The early morning event, known as Morgestraich, is one of several components of the festivities which last until Wednesday and feature prominently the masks and lanterns which receive their first exposure to the public in those dark hours.

The exact origins of Fastnacht in Basle are shrouded in mystery, residents say, particularly as the town records were destroyed in the 14th century, but it has ties to the Carnival which comes before Lent.

The festival managed to survive the Reformation in the city, which residents say attests to their stubbornness and desire to hold on to traditions.

"I have been coming to Fastnacht every year since I can remember," said the ageing Kurt, still wearing his medieval dress. "My son is in his own clique and everyone in the family takes part in some way."

The cliques march around until after dawn, when things start to wind down and the members head to the bars for food and drink and to dish out a few more songs. Even hours after sunrise, the pipers and drummers can be heard parading throughout the city as the toughest let out the last of their seemingly endless energy. (dpa)