1. Carnival is mostly celebrated in the Catholic regions of the southern provinces of the country, like North Brabant and Limburg, though there are also some smaller celebrations in the northern provinces of Groningen and Friesland.
2. Carnival is officially celebrated on the Sunday through Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.
3. The oldest-known Dutch Carnival festivities date from 1385 in North Brabant’s Den Bosch (‘s-Hertogenbosch). These festivities are depicted in paintings by 15th-century painter Jheronimus Bosch. The modern Dutch Carnival dates from after World War II, when the southern provinces resurrected the tradition and organized Carnival committees who elected their own Prince Carnival.
4. During the three days of Carnival, Den Bosch changes its name to "Oeteldonk", which means "Frog Hill." This name changing tradition is common in and around North Brabant.
5. On the 11th day of the 11th month at 11 minutes past 11, the Carnival season officially begins and a new Carnival Prince is sworn in. The number 11 is significant because, located between the perfect number 10 and the sacred number 12, it is considered the fools’ number and is inextricably linked to carnival.
6. On Sunday, 7 weeks before Easter, the mayor hands the symbolic keys of the city to Prince Carnival at City Hall. For three days, the Carnival Prince has control of the city and, together with his subjects, celebrates the temporary establishment of their Kingdom of Fools.
7. Prince Carnival is greeted with three cheers of “Alaaf”, which is the corruption of elf, the Dutch word for eleven.
8. Carnival is a local festivity, with each town personalizing the event in its own way. In addition to a town changing it’s name during the festivities, each town has its own Carnival prince and its own Carnival flag.
9. Carnival celebrations are marked by, people dressed in costumes, dancing in the streets along-side decorated floats, making their way from pub to pub and drinking themselves into oblivion, just as they do at other carnival and Mardi Gras celebrations around the world.
10. Carnival in the Netherlands is also marked by the celebration of such time-honored Dutch traditions like the “borenbruiloft” (farmer’s wedding – a wedding feast for the event) and the “haring happen” (eating haring), the traditional Ash Wednesday meal.
11. At midnight on Tuesday, the Carnival Prince and his Kingdom of Fools are given a ritual goodbye, as Carnival mascots and symbols are drowned, buried and burned. Could it be that the ashes are recycled and used the following day?
Read more about Carnival in The Netherlands on my blog.
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