Fastelavn!

I guess to best describe Fastelavn, I have to go straight to the senses:

Taste: Fastelavnsbollers. Like a frosted Danish made into a whipped cream sandwich. Delish.

Hear: Bat to barrel in an attempt to “hit the cat out of the barrel,” an old tradition in reference to warding off evil for the year to come. The cat has since been traded in for candy, so it’s a little like a piñata minus the blindfold and spinning. The person to hit out the first board of the barrel becomes the cat king and the one to get the last board is the cat queen.


See: Children dressed up in costumes from Haribo gummies to Alice in Wonderland. They then go door to door singing and asking for candy and money. In this way it is sort of like Halloween, but not as scary. Here's the song:

Touch: WHAK! The kids all decorate bunches of birch branches with candy and ribbon to hit their parents with in the morning. Fastelavn is also an opposite day. Unfortunately for me, the DIS party wasn’t until the weekend after the official Fastelavn, so I couldn’t use it – but it will be in pristine condition for next year!

Fastelavn occurs every year for the Sunday before through Ash Wednesday, the Monday being the official holiday (though parties occurred for the full week before and after). It is the last she-bang prior to Lent, so it’s also like Mardi Gras. However, after the reformation, it became a secular holiday and also includes the traditions of bobbing for apples (but you have to actually eat the whole apple, without using your hands) and eating a pastry on a string (also without hands).