Federal Yodeling Festival Basel: gay men's choir officially out for the first time
At the Eidgenössisches Jodlerfest 2026, held this year in Basel, the Jodlerklub Männertreu Suisse made history: for the first time, a yodeling club of men who openly identify as gay presented itself officially and explicitly as a queer organisation at Switzerland's largest yodeling competition.
The news was reported in the July 2026 newsletter of habs queer Basel, the association for gay and bisexual people in Basel and the surrounding region. For the queer community in Switzerland, this is a symbolically significant moment: traditional folk culture and queer visibility come together somewhere many might least have expected it.
The Eidgenössisches Jodlerfest brings together hundreds of clubs from across Switzerland every three years. The fact that in 2026 in Basel a gay men's choir is not just participating but is visible as a queer club shows that visibility in Switzerland is growing beyond Pride parades and city centres.
Source: habs queer Basel
