Overview
- Carnival season opened on Wednesday with towns across Brabant, Limburg and growing parts of Gelderland publicly unveiling princes, holding pronkzittingen and staging ceremonies tied to the number 11.
- Longstanding urban openings such as Oeteldonk in Den Bosch continue to draw very large crowds, while smaller places keep distinct acts like dancing around statues, lampion processions and farmers’ performances.
- Oss staged a new public 11‑11 event in Jan Cunenpark that introduced a ‘worstenmikken’ (sausage‑throwing) game to encourage locals to celebrate in their own city rather than travel to larger centres.
- This year saw first‑time 11‑11 celebrations in several Gelderland towns including Groesbeek and Zevenaar, building on 2025 adoptions in Uden and the 2026 addition of Schaijk.
- The date’s significance rests on the carnival folklore of the number 11 as the ‘narrengetal’ and the mix of revived and newly invented customs suggests the tradition is both spreading geographically and evolving locally.