Credit: Jazmin Campbell
The rain held off for this year’s Stréimännchen festival in the south-eastern Luxembourgish town of Remich.
Crowds gathered in Remich on Wednesday evening to celebrate the end of carnival ("Fuesend") season. As is tradition every year on Ash Wednesday, the local brass band marched the straw puppet (“Stréimännchen” or “Männchen”) through the town streets, accompanied by dozens of enthusiastic onlookers and dancing children.
To symbolise the end of carnival for another year, they set the Männchen, carrying an empty wallet and empty wine bottle following carnival celebrations, alight on the Remich bridge before dropping him into the Moselle river and letting him burn out and float away.
The Stréimännchen festival traditionally takes place a few days before the Buergbrennen, a similar custom that represents the end of winter in Luxembourg. This year’s Buergbrennen festivals will take place this weekend across the country.
