There is a time once a year where many Germans go completely crazy, they call it the “Fifth Season”.
You're invited to celebrate this mad time of year at New Zealand's very own Karneval Dress-up Party at The Bluestone room.
A little bit of history:
Karneval kicks off on the 11th day of the 11th month at exactly 11:11 am. It´s the time of masks, all sorts of costumes, and a lot of madness. The main celebrations are in February the week before Ash Wednesday and start with the so-called womens´ Thursday (Weiberfastnacht). This is followed by carnival conventions over the weekend with deeply satirical speeches about politics on stage and the audience will drink, laugh and sway to music with linked arms. On Monday, the country has a day off from school and work to attend colourful processions in the streets where hundreds of themed floats will pass by the celebrating audience. Floats come in all shapes and sizes and often take the form of satirical depictions of current political hot topics.
The biggest and most famous capital for this celebration is Cologne. People will greet you with their very special carnival call “Alaaf!” on the street, in Duesseldorf they might scream “Helau!”. A typical food of the mad season is “Berliner” – a doughnut dusted with icing sugar and filled with jam or sometimes (as the baker’s prank) with mustard.
On the day, The Bluestone room will provide plates full of this German deliciousness and invite you to grab your funniest costume, get some paint and glitter on your face and celebrate this colourful German festival at their Karneval dress-up party!
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