Faschingsdienstag

Today Is Faschingsdienstag.

Fasching = Carnival | Dienstag = Tuesday so therefore Faschingsdienstag = Carnival Tuesday (doesn’t nearly sound as good as the German expression).

When thinking of Carnival, most people imagine sunny Rio, costumes and a huge parade … I like think about our traditional Austrian Fasching :) We might not have gigantic parades (simply because it’s too cold outside) but we also dress up, eat Krapfen, and through parties. Although the festival and party season starts on the 11th of November at 11.11 am, the actual Carnival week begins on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday. Most Carnival parades are held on the weekend before and especially on Rose Monday, and on “Faschingsdienstag” (today).

“Faschingsdienstag” is the day when kids go to school, dressed up as pirates, clown or princesses. No, it’s not Halloween. Halloween in fun and all, but unfortunately more and more families leave out Fasching and much rather celebrate Halloween with their kids. Ahhh, Fasching so rules!!!

Anyway, since school is not an issue for me and my family anymore, we celebrate with our friends the weekend before “Faschingsdienstag”. Each year at the beginning of January, we start asking ourselves “What should we wear this year?” It’s not an easy question because expectations are very (very!) high. Why? Well, let’s just say that my family always tends to hit it off. We’ve done it all (and we used all sorts of fluids & materials). It’s huge fun!

Tell me, do you celebrate Carnival? Or have you been to any Carnival parades before?