The Year 9 German students have been learning about the traditions surrounding the festival of Fasching or Karneval. The festival is known by different names in different regions of Germany.
The festivities of Fasching date back to the Middle Ages and the festival is the European relative of the Mardi Gras tradition of eating, drinking and merriment before the fasting season. Fasching was also a time to scare away winter spirits and welcome spring, which is why people wore scary masks. Fasching is still an important festival today and is celebrated in many German cities, especially in the Rhineland region. In class, we combined making Fasching masks and learning the colours so the students were able to describe their lovely masks!