Inflight Magazine of Brussels Airlines

DIARY

February events

CARNIVAL SPECIAL

10-20
Venice
Venice Carnival (carnivalofvenice.com) The highlight of the city’s calendar, this opulent carnival sees troupes of musicians, acrobats, actors and revellers from all round the world descend on Venice for 10 days. St Mark’s Square becomes eerily reminiscent of an 18th-century masked ball as carnival goers don masks, hoods, cloaks and tricorn hats.

15-20
Budapest
Busó Carnival (www.mohacs.hu)
According to tradition, villagers in the southern town of Mohács saw off the marauding Turkish hordes by dressing up in animal pelts, wearing horrible masks and making unearthly animal noises. Every year, on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday, locals dress up and re-enact the story in a raucous procession.

15-20
Munich
Munich Carnival (www.muenchen.de)
Dating back to 1829, Munich’s ‘Season of Fools’ sees residents let their hair down at fancy dress parties and costume balls. The highlight of the carnival is Mad Munich (Munchen Harrisch) a procession that sees hordes of dancers and party-goers converge on Marienplatz to eat, drink and make merry.

16-18
Madrid
Madrid Carnival Antique Fair (www.aboutmadrid.com)
The Madrid carnival’s fancy dress contests and processions culminate on Ash Wednesday with the Entierro de la Sardina – the Burial of the Sardine. Sixty of Madrid’s caztizos dress in funeral finery, plant their tongues firmly in their cheeks, and lead a solemn procession from San Atonio de Florida.

16-28
Nice
Nice Carnival (www.nicecarnaval.com)
Over a million visitors arrive in Nice each February to take part in the festivities (which continue until March 4). Papier maché marionettes, fireworks, concerts and processions all help to make this the most exciting winter event on the Riviera, but most spectacular of all is the Bataille des Fleurs, a huge parade of flowers.

18-20
Brussels
Binche Carnival (www.carnavaldebinche.be)
The medieval town of Binche (about 50km south of Brussels) hosts Belgium’s most famous carnival, drawing visitors from all over Europe. Look out for costume balls, processions of harlequins and pierrots and townspeople donning ostrich feather hats and wax masks.

Leave a Reply

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website

CAPTCHA Code (required)