Fat Tuesday

In the heart of Roman Catholic Germany, Fat Tuesday (or betster known as Fasching) is now coming to an end with a blowout party at the viktualienmarkt and most of downtown. Most Munich employees are given the afternoon off to take part in the festivities, and if they weren’t you can bet they would skip work anyway. This is the second largest party of the year, after Octoberfest. Fasching literally means the fast, and last up until Ash Wednesday. More than 100 balls have taken place around Munich over the past 10 days. Although it’s no match for the world’s larger celebrations – like Carnival in Rio or in Venice, or Mardi Gras in New Orleans; well over 100,000 revelers join the party on Tuesday. Over the years, the celebration has expanded beyond Germany’s Roman Catholic core and is now celebrated through much of Germany.