"Fasching" Top 5 Page for this destination Mariazell Local Custom Tip by phil_uk_net

I happened to be in Mariazell for Fasching. This takes place on the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. I don't profess to know much about the origins or exactly what goes on but it is practised in Austria and Germany by the Catholic population and appears to be a general letting down of hair before Lent.
On Rose Monday everyone dresses up and acts a bit crazy. I attended a masked party and was a bit concerned. I felt very much like the Edward Woodward character in "The Wicker Man" and suspected that I might have been lured in to the community to be sacrificed in some weird ritual. I survived.

Much alcohol is consumed and there is not much activity on Tuesday due to everyone being hung over.