Carnival

Carnival is a festive season that takes place right before Lent. The main events are in February and March. And these events are for example, a public celebration or a parade. For this occasion, people often dress up.
Carnival is associated with Roman Catholic and eastern Orthodox Christians. We all know the world's largest carnival celebration which is in Brazil. However many countries have large, popular celebrations like the Carnival of Venice and German celebrations. Carnival ends on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is the beginning of Lent.

History

Lent meant that for 40 days, no parties, no food and no meat were allowed. This 40 day prohibition commemorated the Passion of Jesus. Therefore, people started to celebrate before fasting because it was the last opportunity for eating and partying.
For a long time, the Carnival in Venice was the most famous. From Italy, carnival traditions spread to Spain and Portugal and France. From France, it spread to Germany and New Orleans and from Spain and Portugal it spread to Latin America. Many other areas have developed their own traditions.

Etymology

There are a lot of theories regarding the origin of the word "carnival". One of them is that it comes from the Italian "carne levare" (to remove meat) since meat was prohibited during Lent.


In Switzerland, the festival starts on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday and the Tuesday before is called "Mardi Gras" (Fat Tuesday) because it marks the end of the seven days before Ash Wednesday. Many carnivals occur on this Tuesday.
Nowadays, Carnival is for young teenagers one more occasion to party and because the tradition allows people to put on fancy dress so it is even more funny!