Next: 7 to 9 Feb 2027
Carnival
The days before Lent, when masks, disguise and reversal of order were said to loosen the hold of the dead and the spirits.
About Carnival
Carnival is the season of feasting, masking and licensed disorder before Lent, found across Catholic Europe and the Americas. In the Alps and southern Germany, wooden-masked figures and bell-ringers drive out winter, and many scholars link them to older beliefs about demons and ancestors being scared away by noise. In Venice the mask gave anonymity across class lines; in Brazil and the Caribbean carnival absorbed African and Indigenous masquerade traditions. Anthropologists read the reversals, such as kings for a day and men dressed as women, as a safe release of tensions and a way of renewing order. The date follows Easter, with the climax on Shrove Tuesday.
Also part of it, and being written: Carnival (The festival across the world.), Mummers play (A masked folk drama from the same season.), Hobby horse (A masked figure of many seasonal customs.).
Written by the EveryJaadu desk with AI assistance. Background: "Carnival" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family, and are described as belief and practice. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.