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FEBRUARY
February, of course is the month where Austrians celebrate customs related to the carnival: In Western Austria called “Fastnacht”, elsewhere known as “Fasching”.
Fasching, in fact starts with the ball season in January which comprises dances at inns and hotel ballrooms as well as balls in grand rooms and famous buildings such as the Imperial Palace, the Musikvereinsgebäude and the Opera of Vienna, where the world famous “Opera Ball” is held on the last Thursday of carnival. A special type of dance event is the fancy-dress ball. In big cities like Vienna, mummers on the street have long since been prohibited (except for the organized processions of masked figures). They are now held in houses. Especially famous were the “Redouten” and later on the “Gschnas-Feste”.
In the country areas the traditional processions of masked figures are still seen as the most important events of the season, taking place on the last three days of carnival or Shrovetife (Shrove Sunday, Monday and Tuesday), which are referred to as the “three holy Shrove days”.
While all over Austria you can observe sometimes quite bizarre customs, an innovation on the Austrian carnival scene is the Villacher Fasching (Villach, Corinthia) with a carnival prince and princess and a carnival guild.
At the end of Carnival, Shrove Tuesday at midnight, “Carnival”, a puppet, is “buried” or “burned”. The following day, Ash Wednesday, is the beginning of Lent, for which the traditional dish is Heringschmaus (pickled herring salad) – and this is offered in many restaurants.
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