Fastelavn is a tradition in Denmark that is similar to that of Carnival. It means literally the night before the fast. It was people's last chance to really have a good time before the fast started. In Denmark and Holland there was also a tradition where they would take a barrel with a cat inside and hit and kill the cat. The cat apparently represented evil.
Nowadays Fastelavn is a holiday for kids. They dress up in fun costumes and hit the barrell which is filled with candy. Afterwards they eat special Fastelavn donuts. Here's a picture of our junior primary trying to get the candy out. It was freezing cold and the barrell is very hard. I think we stood outside for over a half hour waiting for the kids to get it open.
Here's a picture of my friend Emma. She's from Scotland and is also married to a Dane. She dressed up as the tooth-fairy. She was on the activities committe and had to help with the event. It reminded of how Laura Gable and I were in charge of the party my first year in Denmark, and how we didn't know what the heck we were supposed to do. Fun memories.
5 comments:
I'm glad you didn't use a real cat. Yikes.
Yay! Welcome to the blog world!
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ya seriously how horrible for the poor kitty cat!
They are pretty evil though. I've got two. They went freaking bonkers on a roll of toilet paper while we spent the weekend in Washington, DC. Crazy cats!
LYNNE
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