What is a lively city during the year, it becomes a festival of colours and music that like a virus will contaminate you and you cannot stop partying. The atmosphere is something magic and I hope to transmit what you can only experience there through images and videos.
Here you can have the unique opportunity to access to the Town Hall ( as it is normally closed to the public). And, you can have free beer lol! 🙂
Friday is the “Employees’ Carnival” (Ambtenaar Carnaval) and it’s the unofficial opening. Normally people are used to join the party together with their colleagues. This year, unfortunately I was not there, but anyway I consider it the real beginning. However, here you can see how the bars are decorated during these days. Here you can see one of the Carnival associations ( there\’s one per district): the main one is called “Tempeleers“.
The colours of the Carnival are green, yellow and red.
There is also an important event: the symbolic delivery of city keys from the Major to the Prince, that now “rules” the next days. Before that event, the Prince brings a chaplet, vegetables and fruits to the statue of Mooswief, the “lady” of the Carnival.
The prince and the Tempeleers hit 11 times a little cannon
The opening is completed after the 11 shots and most of all after the ascension of Mooswief, for sure the most important symbol of the Carnival.
Let’s get the party started! We were ready!!!
The roads are filled and crowded and a chaotic confusion made of colours, music ( the local music from the province of Limburg), dancing people, samba groups and beer! 🙂
You can also meet the Prince with the Tempeleers around.
Tuesday is for sure the most emotional and intense day, as it also represents the closure of this main event. That’s day when Mooswief goes down at midnight and I recommend anyone to feel this moment: it’s really difficult again to me to translate emotions and feeling into words, but it’s something really intense and special. People are singing: there’s a general sensation of sadness for the feast that is coming to an end but also the happiness to have lived some great days.
The Vrijthof, one of the main squares of Maastricht, that hosts Mooswief, is completely crowded and it’s something impressive.
What you should not miss:
- The “Employees Carnival” ( or “Workers’ Carnival) on Friday night
- The delivery of the keys from the Major to the Prince on Saturday ( but you have to buy the tickets before and the ceremony is in the Maastricht language or dialect)
- The opening at 12 o’ clock on Sunday in the Vrithof
- The “cream” of the feast: from Sunday to Tuesday – I love in particular Monday and Tuesday
- Follow the band of the Prince ( around 18 every day)
- One of the concerts of the local artists
- The closure on Tuesday at midnight
Where to sleep and travel tips:
- Book your hotel or hostel or bed and breakfast in advance as they could be full during these days. Please check the posts about Maastricht to find a good accomodation and some tips.
- One day is enough to visit the city: it is recommended as it’s one of the top travel destinations in the Netherlands (also off the beaten tracks) : however you may consider to visit also the surroundings (like Liege, Visè, Aachen, etc).
- The Carnival of Maastricht is one of the main events and big parties you can experience in Europe: it’s for sure the most important in the Netherlands.
This post also will open the new section of my blog called “The Dutch Corner“, based on my experience and on the years I lived in the Netherlands as expat and in particular in Maastricht., located at centre of the so-called Meuse-Rhine Euregion, that includes the Dutch Limburg, the province of Liege in Belgium and the German province of Aachen.
In the next posts I will write some travel highlights around this experience, especially a post about Maastricht.
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What a wonderful experience! It reminds me (from the photos) of Ne Orleans at Mardi Gras! And that is a particularly nice photo of you! ~ David
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Yeah David, it was the 4th time I joined the Carnival of Maastricht. It is not that known, but extremely powerful: if you like this kind of feasts, you should join it once in your life too! 🙂 I'm curious about the Mardi Gras in New Orleans: it is similar to this Carnival? to me New Orleans means the city of jazz and blues! 🙂
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