The carnival
in the plain of Alsace

To combat the greyness of winter, Alsace has found its solution: carnival! Every year, the Rhine plain comes alive to the rhythm of parades, festive music and colorful traditions !

Carnival traditions

In the Alsace plain, carnival, also called Fasnacht in dialect, is much more than a simple celebration: it is an ancestral tradition.

The parades are the main part of this festive event. They feature carefully decorated thematic floats, musical groups - notably the Guggamusik - as well as costumed participants embodying witches, winter spirits, or historical figures. These characters recall the deep roots of this festival that mark the transition between the end of winter and the arrival of spring. Today, we are moving away from these symbols to make way for pop-culture references.

In addition to parades, masked balls and other festive evenings attract young and old alike. We dance, we laugh and we share friendly moments. And like any celebration in Alsace, the carnival is also a true celebration of local gastronomy: the "Schankala" and "Scharwa", these tasty typical sweets, are unmissable.