South of heaven

Wikipedia states about the Dutch carnival the follows:

“Carnival in the Netherlands is also called “Vastenavond” or “Vastelaovend(j)”, and is most celebrated in Catholic regions, mainly the southern provinces North Brabant and Limburg. Dutch Carnival is officially celebrated on the Sunday through Tuesday preceding Ash Wednesday. Although traditions vary from town to town, some common characteristics of Dutch Carnival include a parade, a “prince” plus cortège (“Council of 11″), a farmer’s wedding (boerenbruiloft), and eating herring (haring happen) on Ash Wednesday.

One variant of Dutch Carnival is known as the Rijnlandsche Carnival, which can be seen in the province of Limburg. The province’s capital of Maastricht holds a street Carnival featuring elaborate costumes that resemble some South American and Venetian influences. Intentionally amateurish marching bands (‘Zaate Hermeniekes’ or ‘Drunken Marching Bands’) traditionally perform on the streets.

The oldest-known Dutch Carnival festivities date from 1385 in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. They are depicted in several paintings by 15th-century painter Jheronimus Bosch. During the three days of the Carnival, ‘s-Hertogenbosch changes its name to “Oeteldonk”, which means “Frog Hill.” This name changing tradition is common in and around North Brabant.”

This year the destination for the carnival was Den Bosh (‘s-Hertogenbosch). The weather this year was not very carnival-friendly, but the streets were still filled with funny looking people. It was like Queen’s day in February.

Dress code: madness.

Here are some pictures from the event.

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