Lifestyle
In Echsenbach (district of Zwettl), a carnival parade only takes place once every ten years – but it’s the right thing to do: 1,000 people took to the streets on Sunday, 50 floats were designed in months of preparation, and the streets were lined with visitors.
The carnival parade has been in Echsenbach since 1973, but because it only takes place every ten years, this year was only the sixth time that the parade has come to Echsenbach. And because the move is so rare, the effort of the groups involved is enormous. The results always attract far more people than live in the small town in the Waldviertel. According to the organizers, there were around 4,000 onlookers this year.
According to the organizer Erwin Nechwatal, the audience would also appreciate the event because it is so rare: “We only want to do it every ten years, and then properly, so that it doesn’t just run out.”
More guests than residents
In any case, there was no talk of running dead on Sunday. In the most beautiful sunshine, Echsenbach was filled like no other day of the year. 50 floats were at the start, 1,000 participants spent months preparing for the legendary carnival parade. The whole of Echsenbach was in a carnival frenzy.
“The special thing is that a very, very large part of the population is taking part and people are working really hard on it weeks and months in advance,” says Nechwatal. An extraordinarily large community reigns in the small village.
