This Carnival season, we headed to Maastricht, a small city in the Netherlands that hosts the biggest Dutch Carnival. Although the party does not officially begin until Sunday, brass bands and costumed revelers are out in full force by Friday.
Carnival officially begins at 12:11 pm on Carnival Sunday. The kick-off takes place in Vrijthof Square and 11 shots are fired from a cannon, the Mooswief, who symbolizes a Maastricht market woman, is raised on a pole high into the air. The parade begins.
The drinking, reveling and music continues for three days. On Shrove Tuesday at 11:55 pm, the Mooswief is lowered and Carnival officially comes to an end. The next day, Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, Maastricht citizens go to their local restaurants to dine on herring.
A note on The Mooswief, or Vegetable Woman: She has been the carnival mascot since the 1950’s. There is a corresponding Mooswief stone and bronze sculpture in Markt Square, which was historically the heart of Maastricht’s vegetable stands.
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