36 young women, including nine from Upper Austria, have high hopes – and are probably nervous. Because on Saturday they have to present themselves to a jury in Altaussee (in which the OÖ Nachrichten are also represented). This selects this year’s Daffodil Queen and her two deputies. Their names will be announced next week, but the coronation itself won’t take place until May 26th.
The whole thing has little to do with a beauty contest. The candidates are pretty as a picture anyway. But it takes more to be daffodil sovereignty. The three young women represent the Daffodil Festival and the Ausseerland at home and abroad for a year. They will give interviews and make numerous public appearances. They should appear appropriately self-confident, witty and charming.
The Ausseer women’s rule under the sign of the narcissus has two difficult years behind it. In 2020 and 2021 the festival had to be canceled due to Corona. Nevertheless, the Narzissenfestverein wanted to keep the throne occupied during this time. In the first year, the Three Highnesses of 2019 simply extended their term. And last year Petra Ladreiter, Simone Wiesauer and Katharina Raich were elected in a fast-track process – knowing that they would have little to do. “It was still a good year,” says the 24-year-old from Bad Mitterndorf. “I got to know a lot of people and have traveled a lot. I learned a lot during this time. It was clear to us from the start that the Daffodil Festival itself would not take place.”
The festivities are different this year
So is the old routine returning this year, 62 years after the first Narcissus Festival? No, not at all, because the course of the three-day celebrations has been fundamentally changed – especially on the big day of celebration, which falls on May 29th this year. So far, the main activities have taken place in Bad Aussee in the morning and have shifted to Lake Grundlsee or Lake Altaussee in the afternoon.
This time, the events are concentrated all day in Altaussee, where the artful daffodil figures are exhibited in the town center and evaluated by a jury before they glide across the water in boats on the lake. As always, there will be a lot of music, spectacle and culinary delights. Next year the relay will be passed on to Bad Aussee and then to Grundlsee.
“With this simplification, everyone has less stress,” says Rudolf Grill, chairman of the Narzissenfestverein. “We also avoid traffic if we bundle the holiday in one place.”
All information about the Narcissus Festival is available www.narzissenfest.at
Source: Nachrichten
