In Maastricht, the location of Assemblee Speakers, carnival is called “Vastelaovend” and it’s a serious business.
Celebrations last for three days – carnival officially starts on Sunday, when a procession with beautifully crafted and decorated floats and extras parade through the city. But the festivities continue until Tuesday midnight! For the whole carnival period, Maastricht is draped in the traditional red, yellow and green flags. Over the weekend and through the start of carnival week, shops close for the holidays. Maastricht University even gives its students the entire week off to basically party and get smashed.
The essence of carnival is to dress up, go from bar to bar, sing songs, dance and enjoy the street food and drinks…a true folk festival! As long as you fully emerge yourself in the carnival spirit and dress up and preferably also paint your face, visitors are totally welcome to join in.
“And this is the reason why Carnival makes the world great again”, says Maurice van der Kant, the chief experience officer of Assemblee Speakers Bureau. ''You can hide behind a carnivals mask and suddenly are no longer shy to speak to the strangest person. Every person has the same mindset: together we have fun, together we celebrate, together we sing, together we dance…For three days we are all one.''
Imagine that at any place in the world you can behave as if it was Carnival every day. You start wearing your masks. We meet, we talk, we sing, we dance and it is the music that brings us together. As soon as there is trust we take off our masks. We focus on helping each other and sharing. Imagine…And I think to myself what a wonderful world it would be.
Carnival does make the world great again. I would like to invite you. Experience the three days of Carnival. Dress up and paint your face. Let’s celebrate Carnival with your children, your friends and do not forget to talk with strangers. Enjoy!
Maurice van der Kant
Assemblee Speakers
