Thursday, February 19, 2009

Today is Weiberfastnacht or Fat Thursday

beware men, the ladies are ready to get your ties :D

Today is Weiberfasching. It is also called the German Fettdonnerstag or Schmutziger Donnerstag (roughly translated Fat Thursday or Dirty Thursday), or the Weiberfastnacht (Wives Carnival) which means the official start of the carnival season.

According to wikipedia: Fat Thursday (Polish Tłusty czwartek, German Fettdonnerstag, Schmutziger Donnerstag, or in areas where carnival is celebrated Weiberfastnacht) is a traditional Polish and German feast marking the last Thursday before Lent. Because Lent is a time of fasting, the next opportunity to feast would not be until Easter. It is similar to, but should not be confused with, the French festival of Mardi Gras ("Fat Tuesday"). Traditionally it is a day dedicated to eating, when people meet in their homes or cafés with their friends and relatives and eat large quantities of sweets, cakes and other meals forbidden during Lent. Among the most popular all-national dishes served on that day are pączki or berliner, fist-sized donuts filled with rose marmalade, and faworki, French dough fingers served with lots of powdered sugar.

The center of this Weiberfastnacht festival would be Cologne or Dusseldorf where the airports issue right inside the airplane a travel warning to men passengers. Women armed with scissors are out to cut those neck ties, a traditional 'game'. And men would be then comforted with kisses afterwards.
goodbye neck ties :D
Well, most of the men leave their neck ties at home now. But my husband let the girls experience this tradition last year where he took two old ties and asked the girls to cut them (see photos).

And then of course, I am joining the Ladies' Only Costume Ball tonight. I joined them last year where I even asked our neighbor's help to sew a costume for me. This time, I have the most of last year to prepare. Thus, I have too many costumes to choose from and I havent decided what to wear :D

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmmm... a ladies only ball, sounds brilliant. Any pictures of you and your chosen costume?

raqgold said...

am working on a post about it :D