Friends want to see the street parade but have heard that it can be dangerous. Is it safe..what should we avoid?

It's about as safe as any event where hundreds of thousands of people show up in the confines of a city's streets. Dangerous? So is shopping in Walmart in Kabul .....

Should be safe as long as you wear protection

It is perfectly save and no danger. Provided you do not have heart problems.

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Like this one I suppose

All shirts should be tucked inside the trousers.

Look at the statistics over the last few years, always very peaceful.
There is always a lot of alcohol and drug abuse so try to get out of the city before midnight.
But if you just want to see the parade, there is no problem at all. Just avoid the Quaibrücke (bridge at the beginning of the lake) because it never has any room there.
Look at the route online, keep to the Bahnhofstrasse, and you will just be fine.

It's (relatively, depending on the definition of course) safe, unless you are one of the unlucky few who get killed or injured.

It's an event that draws between 600k and close to a million visitors, according to this article:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_Parade

As such, it can never be completely safe.

For a relatively safe parade, I recommend the various transhumances in Autumn in Graubuenden etc ;-))

One million visitors, if anything is completely and utterly overestimated it has to be that. If only the half of one million came by train then we'd need 500 trains - all arriving at Zurich station and leaving again within a couple of hours. Not to mention thousands of cars, bikes, trams, buses. It would also mean that at least every sixth Swiss was present - leaving room for about 120'000 foreigners.(!) Having recently watched the olympic cycle race in England on TV where the roads were lined with spectators on both sides from the Mall down to Leatherhead - an estimated one million people spread over about 100 kilometres, then such a figure for Zurich is good for a laugh. Based on the crowds I used to see outside the Arsenal football ground I'd say that on that 'million saturday' that there were 70,000 people in Zurich.

I went last year and the only people I saw who had problems were those who had simply drunk far too much and could no longer look after themselves.

Know your limits and you'll be fine.

Always when a drunk guy look at me with a bad face, with the "I wanna fight" face, I look back with a peaceful smile.

Sometimes I even give them a hug and turn into a "temporary friend".

Apart from maybe a few isolated incidents, probably drunken punch-ups, it's safe as houses. We were there last year with our little boy and he wasn't the only one fresh out of nappies enjoying the event (and the ladies with big boobies, apparently)...

Just from personal preference, take some earplugs (they do provide them here and there but they are usually those uncomfortable yellow ones). It gets pretty loud.

There are probably the obligatory pick-pockets who have flocked to the area for the duration so keep your wallet well hidden.

It's also dangerous crossing the street!

I've been ot some of the Pride parades etc and never had a problem.


Enjoy

I'm sure Parade, itself is not dangerous!
If you want to bring kids, that is a different story but just you know you are in very crowded place so keep your eyes on your stuff and have fun!

It was on Bahnhofstrasse in its first years but now is along the lake. Go to Bahnhof Enge and take the General Wille Strasse towards General Guisan Quai and you will see what goes on, except that you also there will not be lonely

http://maps.google.ch/maps?hl=de&bav...ed=0CAYQ8gEwAA

Hahahahahah danger, it as dangerous as crossing the road. You make damn sure you wait for the green light to dance. Stop on a red, if you dance on a red everyone will stare at you

You could always go to the cinema instead.

It's absolutely safe...anyone will go from Basel?