Luxembourg carnival, from Candlemas to a straw man in the Moselle

February in Luxembourg is grey, cold and short on daylight, and carnival is how the country shakes it off. Don’t picture Notting Hill or Venice. The Luxembourgish Fuesent is masked balls in the village hall, parades put on by local clubs and plates of fried pastry, and Visit Luxembourg calls it the fifth season of the year. Here’s what I’d look at when picking dates.

The season, from Candlemas to Ash Wednesday

The government portal places carnival between Candlemas, Liichtmëssdag on 2 February, and Ash Wednesday, Äschermëttwoch. In those weeks nearly every village holds at least one ball, from children’s parties to bigger nights in Esch-sur-Alzette, Bettendorf or Differdange. Costumes are anything goes, from clowns and convicts to fairies and unicorns. The opening night itself is a lovely thing to catch. On the early evening of 2 February children go door to door with Liichtebengelcher, colourful home-made lanterns, singing «Léiwer Härgottsblieschen» in the hope of sweets and a few coins, according to the city’s tourist office.

There’s one very Luxembourgish twist. Unlike their German neighbours, people here don’t take the official end too seriously, and many balls and parades are held after Ash Wednesday. In 2027 Luxembourg’s schools have their carnival break from 6 to 14 February, so those are the liveliest weeks.

Which parade should you see?

Parades are run by local associations, with music, food and drink laid on. The best known, according to the official portal, are in Diekirch, Schifflange, Esch-sur-Alzette, Remich, Wasserbillig (after dark) and Pétange, and there’s one designed for children in Kayl.

My pick is Diekirch. Visit Luxembourg counts it among the country’s biggest, with floats, marching bands and costumed groups watched by around 20,000 people a year, and it’s held on the Sunday before Rose Monday. In 2027 it sets off on Sunday 7 February at 14:00. The next with a published date is Schifflange, on Sunday 14 February 2027. Esch-sur-Alzette, which holds a carnival weekend on its town hall square, Remich and Wasserbillig hadn’t announced dates by the end of September 2026.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Diekirch before prices climb.

Fat Thursday, mind your tie

The Thursday before carnival Sunday is Fat Thursday. It’s the day for the richest pastries of the season and, above all, for groups of women in fancy dress roaming the streets of many towns. Cross their path wearing a tie and it will very likely be cut off, to laughter and applause. If you have a meeting in Kirchberg that day, I’d leave the good tie at the hotel.

The pastries deserve a mention of their own. Verwurrelter are deep-fried knots of dough, Stretzegebäck are made from a dough that’s scalded and then baked, and the list is rounded off by Nonnefäscht and Fueskichelcher. You’ll find them at bakeries and at the balls. For everything else Luxembourgers eat through the year, see Luxembourg food.

The finale, a straw man in the Moselle

Carnival Sunday and Monday, Fuessonndeg and Fuesméindeg, are the busiest days for balls and parades. Then on Ash Wednesday Remich stages the oddest farewell of all. In the days before, a life-size straw figure dressed in old clothes is made up, the Stréimännchen, who stands for a reveller and is given an empty bottle of wine or crémant and an empty wallet. On Wednesday evening he’s paraded through town to the Moselle bridge, set alight in front of the crowd and thrown into the river. In leap years the figure is a woman, the Stréifrächen.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Diekirch before prices climb.

After carnival, the bonfires

Carnival isn’t quite over until the following Sunday, when the Buergbrennen bonfires are lit across the country to drive out winter. For a long February weekend, I’d try to combine a parade with a bonfire.

Getting there is easy from the UK. Fly into Findel, where the tram runs free into the city, or come by train via Brussels or Paris, and remember Luxembourg is in Schengen, so your passport goes through the EES biometric check. Diekirch, Schifflange and Esch-sur-Alzette are all on the rail network and second-class travel inside the country is free. Pack properly for the cold. February at Findel averages 2.2°C (36°F) with 59.5 mm of rain and 79.5 hours of sunshine, and the coldest reading on record, −20.2°C, fell on 2 February 1956. The whole month is in Luxembourg in February.

If you would rather have a local show you round, book a guided tour in Diekirch and choose by the reviews.

A car frees you from timetables: search car hire in Luxembourg on DiscoverCars and compare companies.

So you do not pay over the odds, look at trains, coaches and flights to Luxembourg on Omio and pick the one that suits you.