Editing Carnival (section)

====Netherlands====
{{Main|Carnival in the Netherlands}}

[[Carnival in the Netherlands]] is called ''Carnaval'', ''Vastenavond'' ("Eve of Lent") or, in [[Limburgish language|Limburgish]], {{lang|li|Vastelaovend(j)}}, and is mostly celebrated in traditionally Catholic regions, particularly in the southern provinces of [[North Brabant]] and [[Limburg (Netherlands)|Limburg]], but also in [[Overijssel]], especially in [[Twente]]. While Dutch Carnaval is officially celebrated on the Sunday through Tuesday preceding Ash Wednesday, since the 1970s the feast has gradually started earlier and generally includes now the preceding weekend. Although traditions vary from town to town, Dutch carnaval usually includes a parade, a "Prince Carnival" plus [[cortège]] ("Council of 11", sometimes with a [[Jester]] or Adjutant), sometimes also the handing over by the mayor of the symbolic keys of the town to Prince Carnival, the burning or burial of a symbolic figure, a [[Wedding#Peasant wedding|peasant wedding]] (''boerenbruiloft''), and eating [[herring]] (''haring happen'') on Ash Wednesday.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}

Two main variants can be distinguished: the ''[[Rhineland]] carnaval'', found in the province of Limburg, and the ''[[Burgundian Netherlands|Bourgondische]] carnaval'', found mainly in North Brabant. [[Maastricht]], Limburg's capital, holds a street carnaval that features elaborate costumes.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UsnqJ_puzxsC&q=origin+of+%22Dutch+Carnival%22&pg=PA23|title=Immigrant Dialects and Language Maintenance in Australia: The Case of the Limburg and Swabian Dialects|last=Pauwels|first=Anne|date=1 January 1986|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=9783110883497|access-date=27 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215093850/https://books.google.com/books?id=UsnqJ_puzxsC&pg=PA23&dq=origin+of+%22Dutch+Carnival%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjm3c7xu-LRAhUDQSYKHUFGCf0Q6AEIGjAA#v=onepage&q=origin%20of%20%22Dutch%20Carnival%22&f=false|archive-date=15 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

The first known documentation dates from the late 8th century (''[[Indiculus superstitionum et paganiarum]]''), but Carnaval was already mentioned during the [[First Council of Nicaea]] in 325 and by [[Caesarius of Arles]] (470–542) around 500 CE. In the Netherlands itself, the first documentation is found in 1383 in [['s-Hertogenbosch]]. The oldest-known images of Dutch Carnaval festivities date from 1485, also in 's-Hertogenbosch.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}

Normal daily life comes to a stop for about a week in the southern part of the Netherlands during the carnival, with roads temporary blocked and many local businesses closed for the week as a result of employees who are en masse taking the days off during and the day after the carnival.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.fenvlaanderen.be/carnaval/wat-carnaval| title=Wat is carnaval?| work=fenvlaanderen.be| access-date=31 May 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422135427/http://www.fenvlaanderen.be/carnaval/wat-carnaval| archive-date=22 April 2016| url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://members.ziggo.nl/leowethly/Carnaval/geschiedenis.htm| title=Geschiedenis van het carnavalsfeest| work=ziggo.nl| access-date=31 May 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235027/http://members.ziggo.nl/leowethly/Carnaval/geschiedenis.htm| archive-date=3 March 2016| url-status=live}}</ref>