Experience Traditions

On the first weekend in September, the residents of Naters celebrate the time-honored “Schäful” festival on Belalp. The sheep, which have spent the summer in the Aletschji valley, are headed back down to the valley. Guests can look forward to a traditional program featuring delicious Valais specialties and plenty of folk music that invites everyone to dance.

Schedule
On Saturday, the herders drive the sheep from the Aletschji to the Aletschbord. Once they reach the top, they are warmly welcomed by the numerous guests. Later in the afternoon, the animals are herded to the “Färricha”—these are stone-walled sheep pens. On Sunday, the sheep are sorted so that each farmer can see if all of his sheep have made it back.

Date: September 5 and 6, 2026

Program:
Saturday, September 5, 2026
12:00 p.m.: Start of the “Schäful” on Belalp with a food stand
12:30 p.m.: Puppet show
Starting at 1:00 p.m.: Shepherding traditions between Aletschbord and Färricha
2:30 p.m.: Arrival of the sheep at Aletschbord
5:00 p.m.: Award ceremony for the “Flower Sheep” with flower godmother Alya Bärtschi,       
President of the Upper Valais Black-Nosed Sheep Breeders’ Association

Special shuttle service from Blatten starting at 8:50 p.m. / 9:50 p.m.
Special shuttle service from Belalp starting at 9:20 p.m. / 10:00 p.m.

Sunday, September 6, 2026
8:00–9:00 a.m.: Meat soup with bread and cheese for everyone at the Färrichlift
9:00 a.m.: Sheep Drive (Lüsga)
10:00 a.m.: Mass


Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.