Old Gnigler Krampus Perchten Troupe
LA Krampus reaches out occasionally to the Krampus homeland of Austria to contact those who can share a little firsthand information about how things work there. Recently, we were lucky to establish contact with Austrian Krampus Martin Zehentner who works with the Gnigler Krampuslauf, a Krampus Run named for Gnigl, a neighborhood of Salzburg,where Martin lives, and one of the largest in that very important Krampus region with 30 different Krampus troupes participating. The Gnigler Krampuslauf was founded by the Old Gnigler Krampus Perchten Troupe, a group active since 1966.
When Martin recently visited Los Angeles as a tourist we were able to set up a dinner meeting with some of the Krampus LA organizers in Hollywood, to enjoy some “real Mexican-American cuisine of the 1960s,” at — naturally — El Coyote.
Martin was full of anecdotes, practical tips on how they run their events, and advice cautionary advice about the Krampus, who tips back a few too many Schnapps.
Wow, it would be great if you could post some of those tips.My Nana from Austria first told me stories of the Krampus, but I forget ab pout that tradition until a few years ago when videos were posted on Youtube. We are trying to develop some interest in an Athens, GA Krampuslauf.
Hi! Thanks for the comment. Nice to hear there is some interest in Athens too. We keep hearing about different cities where interest is stirring. If you scroll around through some of the other blog posts, you’ll see some of them are about pulling together costumes. There’s even more costuming tips compiled here: http://krampuslosangeles.com/costuming-tips/