Every February, Europe briefly forgets how to behave.
Cities that spend the rest of the year enforcing order suddenly legalize chaos. Bankers dress as pirates. Grandmothers throw oranges at strangers. Entire towns wake before dawn to the sound of drums older than the nation-states they now belong to.
Carnival is not one festival — it is many philosophies of joy, all sharing the same calendar.
Here is how to choose yours.
The Ritual Carnival — Carnival of Binche (Belgium)
In Binche, carnival is not entertainment. It is inheritance.
At sunrise, the Gilles emerge — wax masks, wooden clogs, bells around their waist. They move slowly, rhythmically, as if following choreography written centuries ago and never updated.
They throw oranges.
Not at you — to you. A blessing disguised as citrus.
There are no spectators here. The city itself performs.
You don’t attend Binche; you temporarily live inside a medieval worldview where winter must be chased away through ritual.
Go here if: you like history you can hear, smell, and accidentally catch.
The Anarchic Carnival — Carnival of Aalst (Belgium)
If Binche is anthropology, Aalst is psychology.
This is carnival as social release valve: satire floats mock politicians, locals cross-dress, and the town collectively agrees that for three days, absurdity outranks dignity.
You will laugh.
You may be confused.
You will definitely be covered in confetti.
It feels less like a festival and more like democracy in costume — a yearly reminder that societies survive because they occasionally parody themselves.
Go here if: you believe humor is a civic duty.
The Spectacle Carnival — Cologne Carnival (Germany)
Cologne turns into a city-sized living room.
Music everywhere. Beer everywhere. Strangers talking to strangers — a rare European miracle. The atmosphere resembles Oktoberfest, except nobody remembers why they first started celebrating.
Carnival here is social glue: not ancient ritual, not satire — simply collective happiness engineered at scale.
Go here if: you want instant friends.
The Aesthetic Carnival — Carnival of Venice (Italy)
Venice treats carnival like theatre without a stage.
People glide instead of walk. Conversations happen in whispers behind masks. Photography replaces dancing. The city becomes a painting that accidentally moves.
Here carnival is not loud — it is cinematic.
You don’t celebrate; you observe.
Go here if: your camera travels with you for emotional reasons.
So… Which Carnival Is Best?
The real answer:
They aren’t competing traditions — they are different answers to the same question:
What does freedom look like in public?
- Binche → freedom through tradition
- Aalst → freedom through mockery
- Cologne → freedom through community
- Venice → freedom through identity
Carnival reveals what a culture allows itself to become when rules pause.
And that might be the most honest travel experience there is.
Maarten’s Note
As travellers we often chase uniqueness across continents, yet one of the most fascinating cultural laboratories happens every winter just a short train ride away. Carnival compresses anthropology, sociology, and theatre into three days. If you want to understand a place quickly, don’t visit its museum — visit its carnival.
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