Fasching, also known as the Carnival season in Germany, is a time of joy, costumes, and lively celebrations. The way it is observed varies across regions, and it goes by different names: Karneval, Fasching, and Fastnacht. While all three stem from the same pre-Lenten tradition, each region in Germany has its own customs.
- Fasching & Carnival in Germany
- Fasching in Munich
- Open-air carnival and carnival parade 2026
- Pub carnival
- About the fasching balls
- Hire and buy costumes in Munich
- Events carnival season 24/25
- A brief history of Fasching
- Narrhalla: the first ever Fasching society
- About Ash Wednesday
“Karneval” is mostly used in the Rhineland, including cities like Cologne and Düsseldorf, where elaborate parades dominate the celebrations. “Fastnacht” is common in southwestern Germany, including Mainz and parts of Switzerland, where it even extends beyond Ash Wednesday. “Fasching”, the term most frequently used in Bavaria and Austria, brings a unique blend of traditions, particularly in Munich, one of the key centers of celebration in Bavaria.
In Bavaria, Fasching is celebrated in different ways, with Munich hosting one of the largest and most exciting events. The city center turns into a lively festival area, filled with parades, music, and dancing. It is one of the best places to experience a German-style carnival during this vibrant season.
Fasching begins in mid-January with the crowning of the Fasching Prince and Princess (das Faschingsprinzenpaar). The real festivities, however, take place in the week leading up to Ash Wednesday (Aschermittwoch). During this time, Munich is filled with street parties, colorful costumes, and traditional performances.
The colourful hustle and bustle takes place on Shrove Tuesday, February 17, 2026, and is concentrated around the Viktualienmarkt with music and dance performances, while the ceremonial enthronement of the Narrhalla prince and princess takes place on Marienplatz on January 3, 2026. On Shrove Sunday, the big carnival parade starts at Sendlinger Tor and continues through Sendlinger Straße and Rindermarkt to Marienplatz and on to Viktualienmarkt.
The market women have become quite ambitious: in the course of the year they take professional dance lessons in preparation for their big performance at carnival. The performance by the market women would be inconceivable without the choreography to the cult song by folk singer Weißferdl entitled Wagen von der Linie 8 – a hymn to the Munich tram, full of the humour and griping that is so typical of the city. No chance of keeping a straight face!
When it gets cooler outside on Shrove Tuesday, the hustle and bustle shifts from the Viktualienmarkt to the surrounding pubs. And things get colorful here, almost like back in the days of the cult tv show “Monaco Franze”, who already knew in the 80s: “There are things in life and especially in carnival that, if you haven't experienced it yourself, you almost can't believe it.”
The pub carnival in Munich includes the city center pubs Weisses Bräuhaus im Tal, Augustiner am Platzl, Hofbräuhaus, Zum Franziskaner, Restaurant Donisl, Andechser am Dom, Augustiner Klosterwirt, Augustiner Stammhaus, Hackerhaus, Schlagerbar ROY and Der Pschorr (Partykeller Alice). Many also have other events on the other carnival days.
For several years now, selected city centre restaurant owners have offered a Weisswurst (veal sausage) brunch on Shrove Monday: this is served during the morning, since according to an old custom a Weisswurst must not hear the clock strike twelve. Last season, guests had to pay only one to two euro per Weisswurst.
In 2026, for example, the Andechser am Dom, the Augustiner restaurants am Dom, am Platzl, Klosterwirt and Stammhaus, the Donisl, the Hofbräuhaus, the Spatenhaus, the Weisses Bräuhaus and the Franziskaner will be participating.
Munich carnival very much embraces the tradition of the courtly balls and festival halls, as well as the legendary artists' and studio parties that took place in Schwabing in the late 19th century. Nowadays, every club, guild and fraternity puts on its own ball. The spectrum is wide, with numerous events to choose from – whether colourful Künstlerfeste or balls with evening dress. Fasching in Munich has many faces.
The city's carnival strongholds include Deutsches Theater and Hotel Bayerischer Hof as well as beer cellars such as Löwenbräukeller and Augustiner-Keller. At these venues and others like them, Munich's Fasching societies, clubs and associations – first and foremost Narrhalla, founded in 1893 – organise festive gala evenings, balls and parties for carnival fans both young and old, ranging from a salsa party at Pasión de Baile to the family-friendly Pumuckl-Ball.
If you still need a costume and don't want to buy anything separately, you can also find a few costume hire shops in Munich, such as Kostüme Breuer in Schwabing – here you can not only hire a funny costume for carnival, but also chic evening wear for a special event or dirndls and lederhosen for a visit to the Oktoberfest. Those who like it spooky will find what they are looking for among the masks, disguises and all kinds of horror accessories in the Halloween Gore Store in Müllerstraße. And the Kostümfundus treibstoff in Maxvorstadt offers new and old unique items from theatre and film productions.
Costume sales also take place at theatres and opera houses in Munich throughout the year: Once a year, for example, the Gärtnerplatztheater makes room in its stockroom and sells handmade one-offs and special stage costumes. The Bayerische Staatsoper also regularly opens its wardrobes at the end of the year for a big costume sale. At the Münchner Theater für Kinder, this event takes place in February to coincide with carnival!
Introduction of the new Narrhalla prince and princess
Where: Beergarden at Viktualienmarkt
When: 11.11 am, doors open 10 am, Warm-up from 10.30 am
Narrhalla-Hofball (Narrhalla Court Ball)
Where: Bayerischer Hof
When: 8 pm, doors open 7 pm
Verleihung des Kunst- und Kabarettpreises der Narrhalla „Sigi-Sommer-Taler“ (award ceremony)
Where: Wirtshaus im Schlachthof (Inn at the slaughterhouse)
When: 7 pm, doors open 5.30 pm
Festive Christmas concert by Narrhalla ‘Der Stern geht auf’ (The Star Rises)
Where: St. Anton Parish Church
When: 6 pm, doors open 5 pm
Popular enthronement of the city's official prince and princess
Where: Marienplatz
When: 11:11 am (warm-up from 10:30 am)
Laim Carnival Association Enthronement
Where: Augustiner-Keller
When: 7.30 pm, doors open at 6.30 pm
Munich-Neuhausen Carnival Club Inauguration
Where: Augustiner-Keller
When: from 7 pm
Moosach Carnival Club Guard Meeting
Where: Augustiner-Keller
When: 7 pm, doors open at 6 pm
Black and White Ball ‘Munich Stories’ hosted by the Munich CSU
Where: Paulaner am Nockherberg
When: from 8 pm
Oide Wiesn Bürgerball (Citizens' Ball)
Where: Deutsches Theater
When: from 8 pm
Kick-off of the ‘White Festival’ – Munich's artists' carnival
Where: Café Reitschule
When: from 8 pm
Tickets: München Ticket
Ball der Sterne (Ball of the Stars)
Where: Deutsches Theater
When: from 8 pm
Tickets: München Ticket
Medizinerball (medicine ball)
Where: Ballroom at the Bayerischer Hof
When: from 8 pm
ball total 2026
Where: Ballroom at the Deutsches Theater
When: from 8 pm
Tickets: München Ticket
Grand Narrhalla Ball – ‘Soiree Munich Life’
Where: Deutsches Theater
When: doors open at 7 pm, start at 8 pm
Pumuckl and the Carnival Prince: Family Carnival Ball
Where: Bayerischer Hof Ballroom
When: Doors open at 1 pm, start at 2 pm
Gaudeaumusball
Where: tba
When: tba
Monaco Nights
Where: Bayerischer Hof Ballroom
When: Doors open at 7.30 pm, start at 8 pm
Ball der Nationen (Ball of Nations)
Where: Deutsches Theater
When: from 7.30 pm
Jugglers' Ball: Jugglers around 1900
Where: Münchner Künstlerhaus
When: from 8 pm
Magnolia Ball, charity gala of the German-American Women's Club
Where: Hotel Bayerischer Hof
When: tba
19th Munich Carnival Parade of the Damischen Ritter
Where: Munich's old town
When: from 1:13 pm
Nonsense Thursday: Women's Carnival
Where: Viktualienmarkt
When: 2 pm (live band from 1.30 pm)
Nonsense Thursday: Narrhalla Schlagerfasching
Where: Altes Hackerhaus
When: Doors open at 6 p.m., start at 7 p.m.
Nonsense Thursday: Grand pub carnival of Munich's market traders and showmen
Where: Donisl
When: tba
Women's Carnival with Radio Arabella
Where: tba
When: tba
Cologne Women's Carnival Evening
Where: tba
When: tba
LUNA Masked Ball at the Night Club
Where: Bayerischer Hof
When: tba
Bal Classique
Where: Deutsches Theater
When: tba
Filserball, the legendary traditional costume ball of the Filser-Buam
Where: Paulaner am Nockherberg
When: tba
Out of Space, Carnival Ball at the Bavarian National Museum
Where: Bavarian National Museum
When: tba
www.bayerisches-nationalmuseum.de
Children's carnival at the Deutsches Theater
Where: Deutsches Theater
When: tba
Moosach Carnival Club Children's Ball
Where: Augustiner-Keller
When: tba
Children's carnival in the Hofbräukeller
Where: Hofbräukeller
When: tba
Narrhalla Schlagerfasching Vol. 2
Where: Altes Hackerhaus
When: Doors open at 6 pm, start at 7 pm
Children's Ball of the Mad Knights
Where: Löwenbräukeller
When: tba
Roses & Love Ball
Where: Deutsches Theater
When: tba
Queer Rose Monday Ball: Crazy in the fairy tale forest!
Where: tba
When: tba
Cologne Evening Rose Monday
Where: tba
When: tba
089Kult – The Carnival Party on Rose Monday
Where: Deutsches Theater
When: tba
Dance of the Market Women
Where: Viktualienmarkt
When: 11 am
Kölner Abend Karnevalsdienstag
Where: tba
When: tba
Geldbeutelwaschen
Where: Fish fountain on Marienplatz square
When: from 11:30 am
Faschingskehraus
Where: Hofbräukeller
When: from 6 pm
Carnival closing party in the Hofbräukeller
Where: Hofbräukeller
When: tba
Faschingskehraus im Augustiner-Keller
Where: Augustiner-Keller
When: tba
Partyband Euterpa im Night Club
Where: Hotel Bayerischer Hof
When: tba
Narrhalla Monaco Nights – Dress code: Disco
Where: Festsaal Bayerischer Hof
When: 8:30 pm
Rock that Swing Ball
Where: Deutsches Theater
When: from 6:30 pm
Kinderball der Damischen Ritter (Children's Ball of the Damischen Ritter)
Where: Löwenbräukeller
When: from 12 noon
Kinderfasching der AWO München-Stadt (Children's Carnival of the AWO Munich City)
Where: Gasteig HP8
When: from 2 pm
Jamboree Ball
Where: Deutsches Theater
When: from 6.30 pm
While other countries and cities celebrate carnival, the people of Munich have what they call Fasching.
The word Fasching itself developed from the Middle High German vaschanc or Fastnacht, i.e. the night before fasting begins, when everyone has one more chance to let loose and engage in high-spirited partying. Being of Bavarian and Austrian origin, the term Fasching is only used in southern Germany. The Munich Fasching probably originated from the war dances and knights’ games of the Middle Ages, with the first documentary evidence dating back to the 15th century. Over the years, carnival activities became increasingly mixed with local customs.
Up until his death, Künstlerfürst (“Prince of Artists”) Franz von Lenbach (1836 – 1904), whose villa today houses Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus (art gallery) with its Blauer Reiter collection, was president of the association Allotria, which organised Fasching processions of historic proportions.
The Munich Fasching saw its heyday in the late 19th century, when artists' and studio festivals, parades and jesters' balls were co-sponsored by leading artists of the time. The epicentre was Schwabing's bohemian scene with its artists, writers and free spirits who had settled in the vicinity of the newly built Akademie der Bildenden Künste (Academy of Fine Arts) that opened in 1886.
Up until his death, Künstlerfürst (“Prince of Artists”) Franz von Lenbach (1836 – 1904), whose villa today houses Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus with its Blauer Reiter collection, was president of the association Allotria, which organised Fasching processions of historic proportions. Renowned artists such as August Kaulbach designed costumes and sets. The Fasching festivities of these wild years were captured in the works of humourists such as Wilhelm Busch and Karl Valentin and by painters such as Carl Spitzweg and Pieter Breughel.
1893 saw the founding of the first ever Fasching society, Narrhalla, marking the birth of Munich's very own carnival tradition. In addition to a procession, the society started out by mainly organising charity festivals in support of the poor population. The idea was to recreate some of the flair of the Cologne carnival in the city on the Isar river. The coronation of the new prince and princess continues to take place every year: they are the official Gaudimonarchen (“monarchs of fun”) of the City of Munich and receive the golden key of the city from the Mayor at the beginning of the carnival season.
1893 saw the founding of the first ever Fasching society, Narrhalla, marking the birth of Munich's very own carnival tradition.
Helping social causes is still something Narrhalla is deeply committed to: three quarters of all performances and visits take place at social institutions such as homes for the elderly and care facilities, with the aim of bringing joy to those who are unable to take part in the colourful Fasching festivities themselves.
When carnival is laid to rest with a humorous speech at the stroke of midnight on Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent. But even on Ash Wednesday, not everything is over in Munich. This is the day when the people of Munich take their wallets – which are empty from Fasching – and wash them in the Fischbrunnen fountain on Marienplatz. The Mayor also joins in his tradition, symbolically dipping his municipal purse into the fountain – which supposedly helps fill the coffers with fresh money. This is directly followed by a fish dinner: it is in this way that many traditional Munich restaurants mark the beginning of Lent, which certainly has its attractions, too. After all, no sooner is carnival over than the strong beer season is upon us in Munich.
