Carnival, Fastnacht, Fassenacht, Fasnacht, Fasnet, Fasching, Fastabend, Fastelovend, Fasteleer or fifth season are the customs with which the time before the forty-day Lent is celebrated. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and is used to prepare for Easter.
Carnival is celebrated very differently: Carnival parades, music, masks and dressing up play a role. The carnival in Latin America developed a vitality of its own, for example at the Oruro carnival or the Rio carnival. Also known are the Carnival in Venice, in Canada the Carnival of Québec, the Mid-Fast Carnival on Sunday Laetare in Stavelot and other places in the Belgian eastern cantons as well as in Spain the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the Carnival in Cádiz. Mardi Gras tradition is also strong in the southern United States. In New Orleans, for example, the French name Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday) is used. The carnival in Namibia takes place in different places in the country and is no longer related to Lent. In the German-speaking world, the “strongholds” are the Rhineland and the Swabian-Alemannic Carnival.
