The Carnival of Basel is the biggest carnival in Switzerland and it is the main Protestant carnival in the world. Basler Fasnacht takes place annually between February and March in Basel. It has been listed as one of the top fifty local festivities in Europe.

The piccolo is a half-size flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" or piccolo flute, the modern piccolo has the same type of fingerings as the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher. This has given rise to the name ottavino, by which the instrument is called in Italian and thus also in scores of Italian composers.