Hey costume-loving friends, or should we say hallo, hola, hoi, bonjour and ciao?

Why are we greeting you in 5 European languages you ask? Because we wanna’ bring the Carnival party to the UK shores of course!

So, you’re all fairly familiar with Pancake Tuesday here in the UK, yeah? Well did you know that in Europe, instead of Pancake Tuesday they pretty much have a week-long carnival costume party extravaganza!?

Now don’t get us wrong, we absolutely love pancakes, but we can’t help but feel that the UK got the short end of the straw on this one. I mean, who wouldn’t want to spend a week partying and drinking lovely European beer in an awesome carnival costume like a Power Ranger, an Egyptian King or Queen or even as a giant T-Rex!?

January and February can be pretty-cold, bleak months on British shores, so the best solution here is to either throw your own mini-carnival costume party, or better still, hop across the Channel and join in on the fun!

The biggest and best-known Carnival celebration is in Cologne, Germany. In 2024 it starts on February 8^th and runs pretty much all week. Everyone gets dressed up in crazy carnival costumes and just celebrates being alive and enjoying each other’s company.

Just picture it: colourful parades, lively music, tasty cold beer and the beautiful architecture of Cologne. All this will be happening while we’re picking pancake batter off the ceiling of our kitchens after another unsuccessful flip attempt.

So stand up and declare: “I’m joining the Carnival this year” and grab yourself an awesome costume!

And best of all, once you’re partying all week long in your kick-ass costume, there’s nothing to stop you eating some pancakes anyway, result!