The Carnival of Basel, locally known as Basler Fasnacht, is the largest carnival in Switzerland and the world's most significant Protestant carnival. Held annually in Basel, it is recognized as a major European festivity and has been inscribed on UNESCO's List of Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2017. wikipedia

During the 2024 Carnival, weather conditions were mild with no snowfall. The overall minimum temperature was 2.9°C, recorded on Wednesday, while the maximum was 13.4°C, also on Wednesday. Light precipitation occurred, with 0.7 mm of rain on Monday and 0.2 mm on Tuesday, while Wednesday remained dry.

The Carnival attracts large crowds, and pedestrian traffic data from 38 city counting stations provides insight into its impact on street activity. These counts are a proxy for street presence, as individuals may be recorded multiple times. Over the three Carnival days, a total of 433,963 pedestrians were recorded. Monday saw the highest count at 161,490, followed by Tuesday at 136,309 and Wednesday at 136,164. This represents a significant increase compared to the baseline week before, where Monday to Wednesday totals were 56,884, 66,703, and 64,743, respectively. As indicated in Table 1, the top five stations with the highest pedestrian volumes all recorded their peaks on Monday. These stations were Gerbergasse (37,593), Elisabethenanlage (23,917), Mittlere Rheinbrücke Schifflände (21,442), Wettsteinbrücke SO (15,387), and Wettsteinbrücke SW (14,460). Monday typically records the highest traffic due to the official opening event, the Morgenstraich, at 4:00 AM.

Hourly patterns at the Schifflände station, a key bridge connecting Grossbasel and Kleinbasel, reveal distinct activity peaks as shown in Figure 2. A very strong peak occurred on Monday morning around 4:00 AM, coinciding with the start of the Morgenstraich. Further peaks were observed on Monday and Wednesday afternoons during the Cortège parades, and on Tuesday afternoon for the Kinderfasnacht. These patterns indicate concentrated visitor movement aligned with the Carnival's major scheduled events.