Fastnacht

Sorry I haven't written anything for a while but it's been kind of hectic here in Walldorf recently what with Fastnacht last month and of course the excitement of the asparagus season fast approaching. Fastnacht (or Fischnet in the local dialect) in Walldorf is one of the best shrovetide festivals in the entire South-West Germany and Switzerland area. It all begins at 11.11 on the Thursday (or Schmozig Donschdig in the local dialect) when Lord Mayor Herr Barry Klug dresses up as a Wasp and opens the festivities with a cry of "LET'S GO CRAAAZY". From then on it's non-stop fun and frolics all the way to the Tuesday (or Faschnet Dinsdig in the local dialect). Fun really is had by all with local people doing wild and crazy things such as cutting people's ties in half, drinking tiny bottles of liquor and wearing amusing hats. In Walldorf there is a huge parade (or is it procession? Actually, who cares?) and people can even throw confetti any time they wish, which I thought would be the case everywhere but according to somebody called Grenzgänger on The Brits forum, in Basel you can't throw confetti until midday (http://www.thebrits.de/index.php?topic=3445.0)
How rubbish is that!!! Anyway, I just wanted to write a bit about that because it's an event not to be missed, and the Hauptstrasse is the place to be, and I should know because I watched it all on my computer over the live webcams!