Carnival of Fools

The crown of the carnival is the procession (Zug). It seems that the energy of fun no longer fits in the walls and spills out into the street. The procession takes place on Tulip Sunday and Pink Monday. Almost without exception, residents - old and young, prisoners of wheelchairs and baby carriages - dress up, make up, and are equipped with various carnival paraphernalia. Such processions pass through all cities and villages, every settlement. This bright folk show lasts for several hours accompanied by incendiary music of hits and the shouts of ALAFF.
And from above, from the carnival moving platforms, sweets, waffles, chewing gum, confetti are flying into the crowd, and small (20 ml) bottles of herbal liqueur and bouquets of flowers are given into the hands. Spectators in the windows of houses become objects of candy throwing, and recklessly catch a treat in umbrellas turned upside down for this purpose.
During the carnival, you can do what is usually forbidden - bawl, litter, in general, as they say here, "release the pig" (das Swein herauslassen). Indeed, when the procession ends, the street is a miserable sight - candy sheets, plastic bags, trampled sweets, beer cans, scales, souvenir boxes ... And here is the end. Approximately fifteen minutes away from the last participant in the procession, an army of scavengers, armed with brooms and garbage trucks, advances. She is so busily active that in less than two hours the street takes on its usual decent look.
And on Wednesday morning, bells start ringing in all churches, urging citizens to move away from excesses and stupidity, to take up their minds, to show good deeds and prudence. "Ash Wednesday" is coming, designed to incinerate the carnival spirit and humbly enter the first day of Lent. After all, carnival - carnavale in translation from Italian, where the carnival originated, means "goodbye meat". These are the last days before Lent. The tradition of wild carnival behavior dates back to even earlier times of the Roman Saturnalia.
So, until next year!
About Carnival