Fastelavn is a Danish celebration that is a mix between Pancake Day (Pancake Day is celebrated on Shrove Tuesday which is the day before Lent, a Christian holiday that was established in the 4th century as 40 days and is generally a period of fasting or other forms of self-denial. People generally eat a lot and have fun the day before Lent begins.) and Halloween where the kids dress up in fancy dress costume and line up to bash a barrel full of sweets suspended in the air with a kind of baseball bat. The one who bashes the barrel open gets to be "Cat Queen" and gets to completely demolish the barrel. The child that delivers the final blow is crowned "Cat King."
Due to the belief that the spirit of winter was a black cat that had to be driven away before spring could come, the villagers dressed up so that the evil spirit could not recognize them and they could beat it (the cat) out of hiding and banish it. When the cat was gone, they had a big celebration, hence the sweets and goodies in the barrel.
In earlier days it was a period of fasting, but now it is marked by a carnival air and fun and games. Parents are awakened by the children waving specially decorated birch branches referred to as "Fastelavnsris."
The youngsters, dressed in a variety of disguises go singing from door to door with collecting cups into which the grown-ups can drop a coin or two, if they feel like it. The money is usually converted into a bag of sweets. |
