A mix of DIY hair wefts, faux fur, and real fox fur ripped from a ruined winter coat are assembled into a Krampus costume for one of our events. Final shot shows semi-finished top. Really glad we got an early start on this! — Krampus Ridenour, of LA Krampus.
Backyard Krampus tomfoolery from Austria (via South Korean apparently!)
KRAMPUSFESTKrampusfest is a multi-venue event featuring art, live performance, music, talks, and video exploring the Krampus tradition.
Events for 2013 will take place around the traditional dates of December 5-6. The art exhibition will remain up longer.
One of the Krampusfest events will be the Krampus Run (below).
The Los Angeles Krampus Run is based on the European tradition of the Krampuslauf in which costumed Krampuses take to public streets waving switches. rattling chains and bells and otherwise playfully menacing onlookers with threat of “punishment” for the “sins” of the previous year.
Though the exact time and route cannot at this point be revealed, what can be confirmed is that the Los Angeles Krampus Run will be staged by a troupe working together for months to prepare painstakingly detailed and largely traditional costumes, and that the event be conducted along largely traditional lines. In addition to the actual Krampus Run on public streets, the Krampus Run troupe will appear as performers at venues where Krampus Fest events are held.
LA Krampus run participants follow guidelines of performance and behavior that have worked in Europe for decades, and in some cases, centuries, striving for fearsome appearance while maintaining a restrained level of physical contact with a careful eye toward onlooker response.
If you have skills in costuming or fabrication and are ready to attend workshops and work cooperatively as a Krampus Run participant, please get in touch.
The Krampus (also Kramperl or Klaubauf) is a figure of European folklore associated with St. Nicholas and his visits to children on St. Nicholas Day (December 6). On this day, or the preceding evening, the saint makes his appearance (in traditional bishop’s robes and mitre) to distribute small gifts to children who have behaved. Children who have misbehaved are menaced by Krampus, the shaggy devil-like beast at his side. The creature brandishes switches, rattles chains, and carries on his back a large basket in which particularly recalcitrant children are said to be carried off for further punishment.
Krampus or a nearly identical figure is found in Austria, Bavaria, Northeastern Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, the Slovak & Czech Republic, and Croatia. Related dark servants of St. Nicholas are also found elsewhere in Germany, Holland, Switzerland, and Alsatian France.
The Krampus-Nicholas tradition took shape in the 17th century, but the saint’s henchman is largely believed to have pre-Christian roots in a malevolent class of mountain spirits known in Austria and Germany as Perchten.
In regions where he is known, exchanging Krampus cards ( Krampuskarten) featuring playfully menacing renderings of the beast has been a part of pre-Christmas festivities since the late 1800s.
Krampus also makes live appearances as part of a roving costumed troupe. Originally these troupes consisted of a Saint Nicholas, accompanied by an angel, a basket-carrier (for the gifts) and a Krampus or two, but over the last several decades, Krampus has become more prominent, leading to the development of the Krampuslauf (“Krampus run”) in which dozens or perhaps hundreds of participants costumed as Krampus proceed through city streets. Saint NIcholas or the other traditional figures may be barely represented or entirely absent. Sometimes witches from the Perchten mythology are also included.
Stateside interest in Krampus has been growing over the last couple decades, thanks in large part to the publication of books like Krampus, The Devil of Christmas and others by enthusiastic Krampus card collector, and alternative art tastemaker Monte Beauchamp. Every year these images circulate more widely on the net, and annual Krampus celebrations have already sprung up in Philadelphia and Portland.