It's Fasching!
Every February my children get a week off of school, they call it 'ski week', the public calls it Fasching. Call it what you like, my children are thrilled because it's a week of no school! Usually, we go somewhere (other than skiing) for the break, but this year we chose to stay home and I am glad we did because it is the first year I've gone downtown to participate (as a non-dressed up by stander) in the festivities.
So what is Fasching? I swiped this answer off the internet..."What is Fasching, Karneval, Fastnacht, Fasnacht, Fastelabend? They are all one and the same thing: pre-Lenten festivities celebrated in grand style in mostly the predominantly catholic regions of the German-speaking countries. The Rhineland has its Karneval, Austria, Bavaria and Berlin calls theirs Fasching, and the German Swiss celebrate Fastnacht."
Translation--A reason to party hard before Lent begins. On Tuesday night a big straw doll representing the sins of Fasching is burned and/or buried--it's all in the lead up to Easter. Being that I am not Catholic, I've never celebrated Lent, but this year I am going to give it a go--in my own way.
I am not giving up anything, instead I am going to commit to studying German every day! My Deutsch is horrible and I've been taking these classes (which are not cheap), but making little progress because I don't practice. So in the spirit of commitment and sacrifice, I am joining the devout to improve myself through study. There, I've said it and now I am committed!
Back to my pictures, see the smurfs in top right corner? One of them came up to me and asked for my number. I had to laugh, but hey, I'll take the compliment!
Okay, I stared at this guy for 5 minutes. He has to be totally uncomfortable walking around with his head pushed forward like that! Pretty cool though, huh! Anyways, if you ever get a chance to participate in Fasching or Carnival festivities I would encourage you to do so. I imagine our celebration in Munich is small compared to Rio or Venice, but I sure enjoyed the music and lively atmosphere! Maybe next year I'll even dress up!
Translation--A reason to party hard before Lent begins. On Tuesday night a big straw doll representing the sins of Fasching is burned and/or buried--it's all in the lead up to Easter. Being that I am not Catholic, I've never celebrated Lent, but this year I am going to give it a go--in my own way.
This looks like such a fun celebration! I love reading about diferent festivals around the world. We have a lot of festivals in Japan but they are very different to this! Visiting from Travel Tuesday :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pics. Those festivities are going on here in Belgium too right now. Looks very similar.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteWhat a bizarre and fun thing to be a part of!
ReplyDeleteWhat amazing colors, and love that outfit made of bottle tops. How innovative that is. Great shots!
ReplyDeleteIt's so fascinating to see how different countries celebrate this season. Thanks for linking up with Travel Tuesday!
ReplyDeleteAnd I was reading through your "about me" page and I can SO relate to traveling with children. I experience the same exact thing!! Even if they do get bored, I think it is so great that we can expose them to so many different cultural things. I think they will look back on it fondly. I hope so anyway! ;)
My school never really got us time off for Fasching! ;) But I'm glad your children got to enjoy this very German tradition! I have to admit, I never really got into Fasching, but I did love it as a kid - nowadays, it's usually way too cold for me! ;) Good luck on practicing your German - that's a great goal for lent!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you have fun experiencing Fasching! I loved that about our time in Germany. Thank you for linking up for Travel Tuesday x
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