A variety of customs and traditions are associated with Carnival celebrations in the German-speaking countries of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. They can vary considerably from country to country, but also from one small region to another. This is reflected in the various names given to these festivities occurring before Lent. Names In parts of eastern and southern Germany, as well as in Austria, the carnival is called Fasching. In Franconia and Baden-Württemberg as well as some other parts of Germany, the carnival is called Fas(t)nacht, Fassenacht or Fasnet; in Switzerland, Fasnacht. While Germany's carnival traditions are mostly celebrated in the predominantly Roman Catholic southern and western parts of the country, the Protestant north traditionally knows a festival under the Low Saxon names Fastelavend , Fastelabend and Fastlaam (also spelled Fastlom, ). This name has been imported to Denmark as Fastelavn and is related to Vastenoavond in the Low-Saxon-speaking parts of the Netherlands. It is traditionally connected with farm servants or generally young men going from house to house in the villages and collecting sausages, eggs and bacon, which were consumed in a festivity on the same evening. While going from house to house they wore masks and made noise. The old tradition vanished in many places, in other places under influence of German carnival traditions it came to resemble carnival with its parades. Beginning and peak of the festival season The carnival season, also known as the "Fifth Season", begins each year on 11 November at 11:11 a.m. and finishes on Ash Wednesday of the following year with the main festivities happening around (Rose Monday). Although the festivities and parties start as early as the beginning of January, the actual carnival week starts on the Fat Thursday () before Ash Wednesday (in Germany). The big German carnival parades are held on the weekend before and especially on , the day before Shrove Tuesday, and sometimes also on Shrove Tuesday ( or ) itself in the suburbs of larger carnival cities. Variations In German-speaking countries, there are essentially 2 distinct variations of Carnivals: the Rhenish Carnival in the west of Germany, centred on the cities of Cologne, Mainz and Düsseldorf, and the Alemannic or Swabian-Alemannic Fastnacht in Swabia (Southwestern Germany), Switzerland, Alsace and Vorarlberg (Western Austria). The Rhenish Carnival (, mainly in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate) is famous for celebrations such as parades and costume balls. Cologne Carnival