Candle dipping in Sarnen: two wax pots, a few minutes apart

The Spritzenhaus on the village square is a former fire station. You dip where the engine used to stand — and have done for decades. On the same page the organiser lists every edition since 2017 without a gap. That is a rarity you only appreciate once you have stood in front of an event that no longer exists: here you can read it off year by year instead of taking it on trust.

In the Reformed church the dipping happens inside the church itself, and the guidance comes from the confirmation class. On top of that comes an offer found almost nowhere else in this calendar: parents may expressly hand their children over into the team's care — «You are also welcome to bring your children to the church for the candle dipping and leave them in our care.» Meanwhile the Antenne team serves coffee, tea and cake.

Sarnen is the first entry for the canton of Obwalden in our dataset — and the canton enters the calendar with two events at once. Of the 2 events on this page, 1 has a verified date and 1 is still open.

In central Switzerland the next address lies in Nidwalden: in Stans they already dip in September — the earliest session in our entire calendar, though only for an hour and only for unaccompanied children. Anyone needing a documented Advent date finds one in Winterthur-Veltheim from early November. Nationally 52 of 58 entries are documented, across 19 cantons; the season spans 23 September 2026 to 3 January 2027.