Mantelsonndeg 2011 - today in Luxembourg

Shops are open today in the city from 14:00 to 18:00, for the traditional Mantelsonndeg.

This is a reminder of the days when, the Sunday before the All Saints Day, people from the villages came into the city to buy their coats to get them through the winter.

Bretzelsonndeg in Luxembourg - Sunday, April 3, 2011

This year's Bretzelsonndeg falls on Sunday, April 3, 2011.

Get ready to see pretzels everywhere in Luxembourg and prepare to give them to your loved ones, as the tradition requires.

Some details about this celebration in our last year post.

Bretzelsonndeg in Luxembourg this Sunday, March 14, 2010

Probably you all have noticed the abundance of oversized pretzels flooding all bakeries and supermarkets this week around Luxembourg.

Well, this is in relation to the Bretzelsonndeg tradition (the Sunday of the pretzels), which usually takes places during the third week-end of the Easter fast. Some say that this also marks the end of the carnaval period.

Traditionally, on this day, young men offered to their loved ones a pretzel and, if it was accepted, they were allowed to visit the girls on Easter Sunday.

However, nowadays, as we've seen with the fee charged to attend the carnavals, people are trying to take advantage and make an exaggerated profit out of it:

As you can see in the picture above, local bakeries sell them for around EUR 20 / kilogram, which is outrageous, taking into consideration that it is just a piece of bread covered with almonds.

Greedy carnaval organisers in Luxembourg

What surprised us in relation to the carnavals in Luxembourg was that the organisers charged a fee for the simple spectators.

The ones in Schifflange charged EUR 5/person, in Esch-sur-Alzette will ask EUR 5/person and the ones in Diekirch asked EUR 6/person (well they asked, but with a little bit of initiative one could enter the parade without paying).

We find this policy to be inappropriate (to say the least), as carnavals would be nothing without the spectators.

Imagine the cortege of Diekirch passing through the empty streets: what good would that be?
Would they still organise the carnaval if no one would be attending it?

These carnavals are popular celebrations and the spectators have as much importance as the cortege.

Traditions and celebrations in Luxembourg

The Luxembourg Government is making available a PDF booklet describing the main traditions and celebrations in Luxembourg.

You can read it / download it at www.luxembourg.public.lu

The only version available is in French, so this should be a good opportunity to practice your French a little bit :)