The first Sunday of fasting-time is referred to as “Kas-Sonntag”, meaning “Cheese Sunday”, or as “Holerpfannsonntag”.
In earlier times, at nightfall, a fire was lit in the so-called “Holerpfann” in all the mountain farms and village houses yet no-one really seems to know anything much about the significance of this tradition nowadays. Maybe people hoped that the fires would frighten away the local witches, like “Stuana Geada” for example, or perhaps it is connected with a certain Hulda, the Queen of the Saligen Ladies, female figures who came to help people in times of particular need. Other scholars believe that the tradition has to do with the plague and that the fires were lit to show others that the sick had recovered and were reunited with their families once more.
A similar tradition, the “Scheibenschlag Sonntag”, is known through the Venosta area. It celebrates the “Winteraustreibung” , the end of winter ,and offers hope for a generous harvest.