German Fests
If you are an expat just arriving to Germany I can assure you that if you live near a relatively popular city (and Germany has MANY of them) then you will never be bored. Why? Fests! Germans love their parties and the funniest thing about them is that with the exception of New Year's Eve, the day after a celebration ends, you never knew it even happened. Germans are so efficient when it comes to breaking down an event and poof! it's gone. But while the fest is on - it's ON in a very big way. Germans tend to go all out. Whether it's a music fest, Spring fest, Autumn fest, Octoberfest, love parade, Christmas markets, you name it there is a fest for it!
Recently I went to Frühlingsfest, or Spring Fest, which is a carnival with food, alcohol (to an American this is unheard of -- we are not allowed to enjoy alcoholic beverages at traveling carnivals), tons of delicious sweets, rides, games, and ours even had a little mouse circus with real mice that were all very well cared for and so cute. The Hannover Frühlingsfest lasts for about 3 weeks and it's huge -- it covers an entire fairground. Here are some photos. The best day to go is on "Family Day" because game prices are lower and something about having all the kids around makes it more exciting. I've been on non-Family days at night and it's okay but there are lots of people there mostly to get drunk and party which isn't my thing so family day is when I go.
I like going because I can play balloon darts (which I'm quite good at) and grab a crepe or some roasted candied almonds. Above you can see the animals that I won on the sofa. Well the white tiger was a "big win". It required that you pop 30 balloons. My husband and I bought 26 darts and a few popped two balloons at once and we won the tiger! The lady gave it to us for 27 pops. My husband won the little yellow mouse. The deer is another win of mine, and so is the pup. And finally the donkey was from some tear ticket game my husband loves to play. You basically buy 40 tickets at a time and tear them all. Inside some is photo of a playing card and the goal is to create some kind of "hand" using them. Most of the tickets are blanks but together, we won the donkey. What will we do with all of these softies? Most likely give them to kids we know. But the tiger I'm keeping -- it's like a "Gund" and the quality is so good...
And why am I posting photos of softies anyway? Because a few readers asked me if carnival animals are cute here and what are they like. Well this is what they are like and yes, they are very cute. Most are from a company in Hamburg called "Paul". One thing I love about them is that they are soft and cuddly. The ones in the states seem to be almost "crunchy" inside -- they feel odd and the fabric is not so great. Take it from the country that helped put the Teddy Bear on the map to have nice quality toys at fairs, right? :)
(images: holly becker for haus maus)
Recently I went to Frühlingsfest, or Spring Fest, which is a carnival with food, alcohol (to an American this is unheard of -- we are not allowed to enjoy alcoholic beverages at traveling carnivals), tons of delicious sweets, rides, games, and ours even had a little mouse circus with real mice that were all very well cared for and so cute. The Hannover Frühlingsfest lasts for about 3 weeks and it's huge -- it covers an entire fairground. Here are some photos. The best day to go is on "Family Day" because game prices are lower and something about having all the kids around makes it more exciting. I've been on non-Family days at night and it's okay but there are lots of people there mostly to get drunk and party which isn't my thing so family day is when I go.
I like going because I can play balloon darts (which I'm quite good at) and grab a crepe or some roasted candied almonds. Above you can see the animals that I won on the sofa. Well the white tiger was a "big win". It required that you pop 30 balloons. My husband and I bought 26 darts and a few popped two balloons at once and we won the tiger! The lady gave it to us for 27 pops. My husband won the little yellow mouse. The deer is another win of mine, and so is the pup. And finally the donkey was from some tear ticket game my husband loves to play. You basically buy 40 tickets at a time and tear them all. Inside some is photo of a playing card and the goal is to create some kind of "hand" using them. Most of the tickets are blanks but together, we won the donkey. What will we do with all of these softies? Most likely give them to kids we know. But the tiger I'm keeping -- it's like a "Gund" and the quality is so good...
And why am I posting photos of softies anyway? Because a few readers asked me if carnival animals are cute here and what are they like. Well this is what they are like and yes, they are very cute. Most are from a company in Hamburg called "Paul". One thing I love about them is that they are soft and cuddly. The ones in the states seem to be almost "crunchy" inside -- they feel odd and the fabric is not so great. Take it from the country that helped put the Teddy Bear on the map to have nice quality toys at fairs, right? :)
(images: holly becker for haus maus)
Comments
well done... I know to never play darts with you!