Carnival in Northeast Twente

In Northeast Twente, about 50 carnival societies are active. The board of the societies is almost everywhere the same with a president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer and monarch. The boards are supplemented by the chairmen of various committees, such as a technical committee, financial committee and parade committee.
In addition, all associations have a Council of 11. They are the association's visiting card to the outside world and mainly fulfil a ceremonial role. However, all members of the Council of 11 also have an active role in one of the committees.
In each village, town or municipality, several associations are active, with one main association providing the city/municipality prince.
Every year, about 200,000 people take part in the carnival in Northeast Twente, where the Grand Twente Carnival Parade attracts more than 100,000 spectators from all over the country and abroad.
The O.C.V. de Kadolstermennekes from Oldenzaal, the C.V. de Köttelpeer'n from Denekamp, the C.V. De Gaffel Aöskes from Losser, the C.V. de Othmarridders from Ootmarssum and the C.V. de Papsleef'n from Geesteren represent all the associations from Northeast Twente in this entry.

Carnival in the Netherlands was traditionally mainly celebrated below the big rivers. The predominantly Catholic inhabitants of Twente from the border areas crossed the border every year to watch parades at their German neighbours.
In 1954, Oldenzaal was one of the first places in the province of Overijssel to have a carnival society and a carnival procession. Within a few years, the festivities attracted tens of thousands of visitors to the town. In other towns, too, groups of young people started organising parties, but it was not until 1961 that an official carnival organisation, De Gaffeloaskes, was set up in Losser. Many other towns followed suit. The reason why carnival in Northeast Twente was able to develop so quickly is because of the Catholic basis of the population and the support from the church. Also the 'noaberschap' (neighbourship), the for and with each other care, has ensured that there were quickly started collaborations which were converted into official associations. Neighbours collectively decorate their streets and neighbourhoods together and former city dwellers come back especially for carnival. Whereas once carnival was based on reversing the roles, it is now based on equality. Carnival is for everyone!

• Social media will be used to give insight into the traditions and where they come from exactly, because carnival is easily mistaken by non-carnivalists for a celebration of drinking a lot of alcohol, cheating and anything goes.
• With the social media, it will be made clear what kind of activities take place during the year, behind the scenes. That which one does not see but to which many people are committed.
• Because not all children are included in the carnival tradition from an early age, an education package with three lessons has been developed for children in the 7th and 8th grade of the primary schools in Oldenzaal. This package also gives the teachers something to hold on to when passing on the knowledge and skills around carnival.
• At the moment, an education package is being developed that can be used at all primary schools in Northeast Twente.
• At present, there is no structural cooperation or consultation between the carnival associations. Therefore, we are working on setting up a carnival umbrella organisation Northeast Twente where consultation takes place on various issues to ensure the safeguarding of the heritage.
• The legislation concerning young people and drinking alcohol has caused catering establishments to refuse young people under 18 more and more often to participate in regular carnival celebrations. Therefore, a number of special events for young people have been organised over the past year. This trend will be continued with more special events for and by this target group.
• Because of stricter regulations, external parties will be hired to draw up safety plans. In addition, volunteers will be trained in the area of safety plans so that they can observe the work of the external parties and supplement them where necessary.
• Because there are some clubs where no women are members yet, this subject will be discussed in the members' meeting and shared with the community. In doing so, one continues to look clearly and sharply at the traditions and critically assess whether they are still in line with the standards and values of our time.
• Because we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings with our clothes or constructions, a committee has been set up to check and test the registrations for the parades. The participants are informed about this in advance so that it is clear beforehand. In this way we want to show that we take everyone seriously in his or her conviction.