Car­nival cus­toms on the continent

When many people in con­ti­nental Europe hear the words Kar­neval, Fa­sching or Fast­nacht, they think of co­lourful street pa­rades, ela­bo­rate masks, silly cos­tumes, sa­ti­rical floats and a period of ce­le­bra­tion in the run-up to Lent. In parts of Ger­many, Bel­gium, Ne­t­her­lands, Aus­tria, Switz­er­land and Italy, car­nival is a major cul­tural event – so much so that entire cities close for the celebrations.

For Eng­lish-spea­king au­di­ences, this might seem un­fa­mi­liar. In the UK – and in much of the United States – there is no direct equi­va­lent to this pre-Lent car­nival season, and the cul­tural re­asons go deeper than just dif­fe­rent words.

Car­nival in much of main­land Europe has its roots in the Chris­tian ca­lendar, espe­ci­ally in tra­di­tions tied to Lent – the 40-day period before Easter during which Chris­tians tra­di­tio­nally fast or give up cer­tain foods or lu­xu­ries. The word car­nival pro­bably comes from Latin mea­ning “fa­re­well to meat”, with the car­nival days pro­vi­ding a sym­bolic last in­dul­gence before the be­gin­ning of Lent, when meat, dairy and rich foods were often rest­ricted. These prac­tices were stron­gest in areas with deep Ca­tholic he­ri­tage, where the church ca­lendar shaped daily life and local festivals.

Over cen­tu­ries, older folk tra­di­tions – in­clu­ding pagan rites of sea­sonal tran­si­tion, spring re­newal and sym­bolic role-re­ver­sals – blended with these Chris­tian ob­ser­vances to create what main­land Eu­ro­peans now re­co­g­nise as car­nival: a period of fe­as­ting, mas­querade and com­munal ce­le­bra­tion im­me­dia­tely before Ash Wednesday.

But how did the UK miss out on the so-called “silly season”? The Pro­tes­tant Re­for­ma­tion in Bri­tain during the 16th cen­tury dra­ma­ti­cally re­duced the in­fluence of Ca­tholic ritual cycles in ever­yday cul­ture. While the idea of Shro­vetide (the days before Lent) and Pan­cake Day did sur­vive in Eng­land as mar­kers of the pre-Lent season, the larger pat­tern of ritual fe­as­ting, wea­ring masks and public ce­le­bra­tion tied to car­nival didn’t take root in the same way. Con­se­quently, there was never the same cul­tural mo­mentum or shared prac­tice that would sus­tain a strong public tra­di­tion of car­nival across the UK.

So, let’s take a look at what car­nival looks like around main­land Europe…

Known va­riously as Kar­neval, Fa­sching or Fast­nacht de­pen­ding on the region, the car­nival season is often re­ferred to in German as “the fifth season of the year”. No matter what it’s called, you can be sure of ce­le­bra­tions – but, again de­pen­ding on the region, they’ll all look a little different.

Car­nival is one of Europe’s most exu­berant fes­ti­vals. It’s a time of high spi­rits, par­tying, dancing and laughter with the trials and tri­bu­la­tions of ever­yday life taking a back seat. Car­nival is a deeply rooted tra­di­tion, re­flec­ting a long-stan­ding human desire to banish the winter blues. Then, in later years, the church al­lowed its con­gre­ga­tion to have a final ce­le­bra­tion before the strict 40-day fas­ting period began. Car­nival is as varied as the count­ries that ce­le­brate it and is marked by a range of traditions.

Take Italy, for ex­ample. Images of car­nival in this country will often bring the ele­gance of Venice to mind. The Car­ne­vale di Ve­nezia is famous for its ornate masks and ela­bo­rate cos­tumes in­spired by his­to­rical dress. Ho­wever, in Ivrea, a town in nor­t­hern Italy, car­nival is marked by the “Battle of the Oranges” in which ever­yone takes part in a mas­sive orange fight!

In Switz­er­land, car­nival is known as Fast­nacht and people often wear masks called Larven or Tschägg­ättä that can so­me­times look quite gro­tesque or scary. Here there are strict rules and pro­ce­dures that have to be fol­lowed for the car­nival pa­rades. In Basel, ever­y­thing starts at 4 am to the sound of pic­colo flutes and drums.

In Ger­many, one im­portant day is the Thursday before Ash Wed­nesday, which is known as Un­sin­nige Don­nerstag (Silly Thursday) or Wei­ber­fast­nacht (Women’s Car­nival). Women take on a sym­bolic role of power, cut­ting off men’s ties and ge­ne­rally ce­le­bra­ting tog­e­ther wea­ring ima­gi­na­tive cos­tumes. Car­nival re­a­ches its peak on Ro­sen­montag (Rose Monday) with huge pa­rades of de­co­rated floats from which people throw sweets into the crowds that line the route. Need­less to say, it’s very po­pular with children!

In Spain and Por­tugal the focus is more on music and dancing. Dancers will often wear ela­bo­rate cos­tumes and there is a great Latin Ame­rican influence.

De­spite all these dif­fe­rences, car­nival fans are united in their love of com­munal ce­le­bra­tion, laughter and the fee­ling of freedom. When Ash Wed­nesday dawns, mar­king the end of the fes­ti­vi­ties, it’s time to return to nor­ma­lity – back to work and ever­yday life, but with the me­mo­ries of all the fun they had.

Would you enjoy car­nival in Europe? Which tra­di­tion would you like to ex­pe­ri­ence? Let us know in the comments!