Q 01/05

The word 'carnival' is often traced to the Late Latin phrase carne levare. What does it mean?

A) Feast of fools

B) Farewell to sin

C) Put on the mask

D) Remove meat

Answer · why

D) Remove meat

The name points at Lent: the season was the last chance to eat up meat and fat before the fast.

Q 02/05

According to Guinness World Records, which city's carnival is the largest in the world?

A) Rio de Janeiro

B) New Orleans

C) Port of Spain

D) Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Answer · why

A) Rio de Janeiro

The street carnival puts around two million people a day on the city's streets, on top of the samba-school parades.

Q 03/05

Which pope decided that the Lenten fast would begin on Ash Wednesday?

A) Leo the Great

B) Nicholas the Great

C) Gregory the Great

D) Innocent III

Answer · why

C) Gregory the Great

Gregory reigned from 590 to 604, so the pre-Lent blowout has had a fixed finish line for over 1,400 years.

Q 04/05

In the Rhineland, the first modern carnival parade was held in Cologne in which year?

A) 1823

B) 1848

C) 1871

D) 1899

Answer · why

A) 1823

The Festkomitee Kölner Karneval, which still runs the parades and stage shows, was founded the same year.

Q 05/05

Which Belgian town's carnival is famous for its Gilles, performers in wax masks and wooden clogs?

A) Bruges

B) Binche

C) Namur

D) Ghent

Answer · why

B) Binche

The Gilles appear mostly on Shrove Tuesday, and UNESCO listed the event as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage in 2003.