The carnival consisting of the weirdest and most wonderful fancy dress costumes is here! Ahh we’d give anything to be over in Germany celebrating the awesomeness that is Fasching. But what upsets us even more is that there are many people who haven’t even HEARD of it!
If you’re one of those people, then don’t worry; we’re going to fill you in on all the details. Starting with:
What is Fasching?
Carnival season is a time for crazy fancy dress parties, big parades with extravagantly decorated floats and costume balls that are open to the public. The celebrations of Carnival usually take place in the more Catholic parts of Germany, however they do occur in some places in the north of Germany. It’s seen as a day where people have a chance to let their hair down before Lent starts on Ash Wednesday.
When is it?
Carnival official starts on the 11th of November at 11:11 am and continues for around 3 months in a fairly low-key manner. Then the Tolle Tage (crazy days) come which peaks on Rosenmontag, the 42nd day before Easter.
Why all the different names?
There are several different names for Carnival as it is a regional festival and is celebrated in different ways according to different local traditions. It’s known as:
Karneval in the Rhineland area
Fastnacht in the city of Mainz
Fasnet in Swabia (south-west region of Germany) and in the southwest of the state of Bavaria
Fosnat in the northern state of Bavaria
Fasching in the city of Munich and in Austria.
The largest parade is in Cologne – over 1 million people line up along the street to see the parade pass by. This takes about 5 hours. Yup that’s right, people wait in the street for 5 HOURS! And over 11,000 members of the local carnival clubs march in this 4 mile parade dressed up as clowns, witches, wizards or the military uniforms that were fashionable during the Napoleon times (which is when the parade started – in 1823, after Napoleon had been defeated in Europe).
And that’s all you need to know about Fasching! If you’re lucky enough to be going (in which case we’re extremely jealous) and still need a costume, check out our website by clicking here!