Celebrating Fasching at KiGa

Today, Elle celebrated Fasching at her KiGa.  There were many other princesses there, but as Elle reported when Britta & I picked her up, she was the only princess ready to get married:)-lol!!  We were going to venture out to another Fasching parade this afternoon, but decided to stay inside where it was warm; Sundays parade was enough for us this year.

My Blog entry from February 19, 2012 (in case you need a refresher on Fasching:).

"Since Thursday, we have been participating in various Fasching celebrations.  But, what in the world is Fasching you may be wondering (at least I did)???  In the simplest of explanations and comparisons, it is the “Mardi Gras” of Germany.  It is also sometimes referred to as “Karneval Time.” Officially, the season starts on the 11^th of November at 11:11am, although you would never really know it is “Fasching” until the days prior to Ash Wednesday.  The days prior to Ash Wednesday, people are allowed to “whoop it up” and behave recklessly before the beginning of Lent.  It is a time to break the rules, poke fun at those who make the rules and then make your own rules.  Historically, a prince and princess were selected to rule the country during the Fasching season.  Political authorities and high placed persons were the target of ridicule and featured in humorous speeches; to avoid persecution, the common folk would perform behind masks and costumes.  Still today, many of the floats have political messages and involve colorful costumes and masks.

Last Thursday was known as “Weiberfastnacht” or “Women’s Carnival Night.”  On this day tradition holds that women are allowed to cut off the tie of any man within reach.  The women are also allowed to kiss any man they like (luckily Matt was in Spain for work:).  Yesterday, it was “Rosenmontag” (Rose Monday).  On Rosenmontag, there were a lot of various street processions that involved costumes and carnival floats.  And today is known as “Faschingsdienstag” (Carnival Tuesday).  It is the last day of Fasching, thus Ash Wednesday is tomorrow.  Even as I type this Blog entry, I can hear people outside on the streets “whooping it up!”

Fasching is celebrated in mainly Catholic parts of Germany.  As I was compiling information on, “what in the world is Fasching,” I continually noted that the largest of the Fasching celebrations is in Cologne.  This city has the longest tradition with street parties dating back to the 14^th century.  Throughout the streets, there are multiple alcohol and donut vendors.  What is the deal with donuts?  Again, with the largest of the parties being held the eve of Ash Wednesday, people like to binge on the items that many will “give up” during Lent. The donuts come in all varieties containing sweets such as vanilla, marmalade or chocolate.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed celebrating Fasching.  Every event involved brightly colored & detailed costumes and lively music.  The parades were not like any parade I had ever attended before.  Almost every float had either people drinking on the float and/or handing out alcohol to parade spectators; spectators were encouraged to bring “Red Solo Cups” for alcohol to be poured into.  Another common way of “sharing alcohol” with parade spectators involved the people on the floats spraying alcohol into spectators’ mouths using spray bottles.  And yet, some floats had simple kegerators that people could just walk up to and pour themselves a brew:).  No doubt about it that each celebration was a tad “bizarre” we had a lot fun and each party!  Matt and I often commented though if only we were attending Fasching 10-years ago and we could have “fully” participated in the celebration!  Instead we were only interested in keeping Elle & Britta safe, having fun as a family AND getting LOTS of candy:)!!  My how times change!!"