Maastricht is famous for its street carnival: everything happens outside. You can buy your drinks outside and party in the streets along with everyone else. Maastricht is also known for its ‘zaate hermeniekes’, which is a kind of band/fanfare that play (amongst others) typical Maastricht Carnival Songs. Esther ten Haaf, 26, has lived in Maastricht all her life and knows these songs by heart. Although native to Maastricht, she has only been experiencing carnival for the past five years. At first, like many in Maastricht, Ten Haaf went on holiday with her family to escape the business of the carnival week.
Dirty clothes
After deciding to try it out for the first time five years ago, she now doesn’t want to miss it anymore. “Everyone is so nice to each other,” she says, “the atmosphere is so moving, the music is vibey and the whole theme is very exciting.” She is planning to wear the same winter jacket she wore last year which she decorated with fake flowers, and which took her 3 hours to sew together. Carnival is not supposed to be expensive according to this FASoS student. “Your clothes get really dirty, so do not spend too much money.”
Six months
Preparation is everything, and some people even go so far as to spend six months working on their carnival costumes, ‘pekske’ in the Maastricht dialect. Moni Kara, 26, who is from Hungary and also a student of FASoS, is definitely taking Ten Haaf’s advice about preparing your costume in advance. Kara is going to second-hand shops to source inspiration. “You can buy glitter and face paint at HEMA,” says Kara. “You don’t have to go to the carnival boutique, because that is very expensive”. According to the two students, the shop So Low Maastricht XXL on Grote Staat is the perfect place to shop. “They have everything”, says Kara as she shows off the huge flower crown she just bought there. Another tip: the Maastricht market which is on every Wednesday and Friday, new stores are popping up there just for carnival clothes. One can see the excitement on her face as she speaks of her expectations for her first-ever carnival: her eyes light up as she holds her flower crown and plastic flower necklace. She is showing off her carnival haul like many other first-time students. Luckily, Kara has Ten Haaf to guide her.
Music
Sebastian Rosner, who is studying his masters in Human Decision Science at School of Business and Economics, is planning to go with a bunch of his friends. Rosner went to the Maastricht carnival in 2020 when he was on exchange from Austria, and he remembers the Vrijthof as being filled with people, young and old, celebrating together. The music is something which particularly stood out to him because it reminds him of Austrian music. His favourite part was “that the whole city was up on their feet- there is nothing like this back home”.
Smurf
His costume in 2020 was actually prepared for a family event: it made him look like a Smurf, with a blue body and a white hat. Although he doesn’t know what he is going to wear this year, Rosner does know that he is going to a cheap second hand shop to gather all kinds of clothes because, according to his friends, sometimes people wear different costumes every day.
Kathryn van den Berg