The party starts the Thursday before Ash Wednesday with Altweiberfastnacht (Old Lady Fastnacht). This is pretty much 'ladies night' to the extreme. Women of all ages hit the bars armed with scissors. Men who dare to join the festivities are supposed to wear a tie, that a woman cuts off to receive a kiss (...or more).
Jill came down from Berlin to take part on some of the festivities, so we decided to try to find a place to get a drink that wasn't crazy. We wore our costumes and roamed Mainz in search of something not available on such an evening. We ended up on the hole-in-the-wall bar on my street, where we enjoyed a beverage before the bar keeper closed up at 11:30 (very, very early in terms of Fastnacht festivities).
Friday is kind of a 'low key' day with no major events, other than comedic shows and private parties around town. So Jill, Emily and I went to Ludwigshafen.
Saturday is the children's parade in Mainz. All of the kindergartens and grade schools in the area dress up in various styles and interpretations of Roman costumes and parade through the city. Except Emily's school: they dressed as construction workers, complete with a fake port-a-potty.
Emily's School
Little Romans!
Sunday is filled with small parades in the communities surrounding Mainz. I went to Ingelheim to watch their parade. One of my teachers and I watched hand-made floats and decorated tractors by local organizations and school alumni groups. She dressed as a nun and I dressed as a witch. And lots and lots of champagne flowed. I saw some of my students and met their parents. It was a pretty awesome day.
Monday is the main event: Rosenmontag. The day starts and doesn't stop. The main parade starts at 11:11am on Boppstrasse, which happens to be where Emily lives. A group of us got together and watched from close to her apartment. The theme of the day is to be as crazy and silly as possible. And to say 'Helau' as much as possible.
Jessica, Emily, Me, Lori and Beth. Michelle took the picture!
The parade in Mainz is known for being very political. One of my favorite floats demonstrated the hate many Germans have for Google Street View:
Not blog appropriate
- candy
- popcorn
- chips
- chapstick
- sponges
- individual package of kleenex
- perfume
- plastic piggy bank
- packets of mustard, mayo and ketchup
- bread rolls
- fruit
- handkäse (a type of cheese)
- pretzels
- wurst [ps - we totally got one]
- left over chocolate Christmas Santas [yes, I know this is candy. But I caught one and thought it was more special than regular candy]
After the four hour parade, the party continues all night in bars and in the streets. The party mostly fizzles out on Tuesday and all partying stops promptly at midnight on Ash Wednesday. Then the Mainzers go back to their normal state and (im)patiently wait for next year.
Lg, Lauren
