also i see the danish name and it is called the same here in the south of holland
Vasteloavond. which is a close enough translation to fasting eve.
before the 40 days of fasting till easter people go crazy 1 more time, well that is what it was originally.
also known as carnaval and yes people dress up here(especially in southern holland) and are drunk from friday late afternoon till tuesday night.
btw on average 1 in 7 children in the ntherlands is not from the person they call 'dad'. in southern holland it is 1 in 5. (probably because of this).
Also in the generalpractis part of my study i had a round of 10 weeks wich started about 3 weeks before carnaval and ended 7 weeks after.... you wouldn't believe the stories i heard from the wednesday after carnaval to about a week or 2 after.... i like to party but these people realy think that for 4 days they can do anything at all.......
.
)