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Saturday March 1, 2025 

7-11 pm 

Lumpenball

German Mardi Gras

 German Karneval Mardi Gras or Carnival (Karneval) goes by a lot of different names: Fasching, Fastnacht, and Fassenacht. 

But it all means one thing… fun! Germans consider this time “the fifth season” of the year, and it starts on November 11, or specifically, on 11.11 at 11:11 am. The festivity will reach its peak the following year with a six-day celebration that ends before Ash Wednesday (March5, 2025). That’s right; it’s the last days of eating, drinking, and merriment before the start of Lent.

In other words, the party lasts and lasts and lasts for nearly 4 months!

What is a Lumpenball?

The Lumpenball is the last of the last Parties of Fasching! 

-and arguably the best of the Fashing Parties!

 In German, Lumpen is translated as “rags” or “Ragamuffin”…. and a Ball is, well, a Ball, with dancing.

A Lumpenball, in translation, is a Ragamuffin Ball or a dress down to raggy clothing ball- no need to dress fancy ball.

The idea is to attend these balls AFTER Fasching, since you spent all of your money on your New and Fancy Easter outfit (which is hidden away until Easter Sunday), Fashing costumes, drinking, partying, and more partying, all you might have left is just enough to dress in rags or in the best and preferred cases…you only have your old party battered, worn out and torn costume to wear!

A Badge of Pride:  Maybe the more wore out your costume has become… it will be seen as sign of how much fun and parting you did! (Drinking, stumbling, falling, tearing holes, no washing, drinking, stumbling, snagging tearing holes, no washing, repeat the next day…my suit is trashed along with me!)

In eras and days gone by, a priority would have been to purchase a new and extremely nice outfit for Easter Sunday.  An outfit to wear to church service and be seen in.  This of course, would have been done in the midst of the Fasching and would have been a first priority, thus adding to the idea of having spent a lot of money and only wanting to wear raggy clothing to the party-a Lumpenball.  These Easter Best outfits would have been set aside and not worn until Easter Sunday. 

Price is $10- member

$15 -nonmembers

enjoy the below videos of Lumpenball’s in Germany