Ask someone in New Glarus today what Kilby is and the answer may be fairly simple: It is the annual Swiss Church service and dinner held each September.
Go back a century or more, however, and Kilby was something much bigger. It was one of New Glarus’ major annual celebrations — part church homecoming, part community festival and part social event — complete with food, music, shooting competitions, baseball, tug-of-war contests and dances that could continue through the night.
The tradition came to Wisconsin with the Swiss settlers who founded New Glarus. In Canton Glarus, similar celebrations are known as Kilbi or Chilbi. The name is derived from the German word “Kirchweihe,” meaning the dedication or consecration of a church. Such celebrations developed in Europe as religious observances that often grew to include markets, fairs, food and other secular festivities.
New Glarus’ Swiss Reformed congregation was organized in 1850, just five years after the colony was founded. Local historical research says Kilby was formally established in the congregation’s 1859 constitution, with the celebration to be held on the fourth Sunday of September.
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