10 / 11 Feb 2024: A weekend of drunk people in costumes, they said. One person even made, what is in my books, a culturally insensitive comment! The expressions did not sound something to look forward as a foreigner.
After a busy work week, the weekend was meant for plenty of sleep and long walks in the Dutch country side. Destiny had alternate plans.
Eindhoven
A colleague needed a ride to the Eindhoven train station and thus began an experience worth writing. Along the route, I caught a glimpse of families and teenagers in colorful costumes cycling and walking towards the city center. As a country with dedicated cycling highways, cycles are no surprise. Costume parties are not unheard off. The combo of people with costumes on a cycle was a sight to watch.
The next 2 hours was colorful procession with tableaus, floats & marching bands. Music everywhere, it was cacophony of the nice kind, a joyful chorus. Variety of costumes- some symbolic & many deeply serious. Little quirky fun events here and there. Here is the <2min video summary:
The most inventive city in the the world
Forbes ranks cities by patent intensity- # of patents for every 10,000 residents. Eindhoven makes it the top the charts with 22.6 patents/10k residents followed by San Diego at 8.9! Philips was founded and continues to be headquartered in Eindhoven.
Maastricht
The next day I drove 90kms south of Eindhoven to Maastricht, bordered by Belgium to the west and Germany to the east. The carnival was at a different scale! I spoke to a couple, probably in there 80s. They live in the country side and the only time they visit Maastricht is for the carnival. Here is the <4min video summary:
Conclusion
It is an unforgettable weekend of culture & tradition, the surprise element added to the awe. The carnival (Carnaval for the Dutch & Germans) takes places in February or March, before Lent but only “below the river”. This means not in Amsterdam. Besides Eindhoven and Maastricht, the other popular carnaval destinations in Netherlands are Den Bosch, Breda, TIlburg. Here is my take on those not-so-encouraging opinions on the carnaval- the Dutch want this tradition to remain authentic, a secret probably, and not lose it to many tourists ;-)