The Fasching celebration starts every year with the ceremonial kidnapping of the Mayor on Friday. The Friday celebration is for the adults, but a special kids event is held the next day with the Narren at the library. The kid’s events are one of the mor

e important Narren visits of the year because it is an opportunity to introduce themselves to the youngest New Ulm citizens.

The Narren tradition goes back over 30 years in New Ulm. The group consists of over 30 locals who don wooden masks to become the unique character that populates the city’s festivals. These characters are described as composites of people who give life and color to communities throughout the world.

For longtime residents of New Ulm, the Narren are a familiar sight, popping up at nearly every festival, but for the younger kids, they can be a little frightening. The Narren’s visit to the library on Saturday was a chance to teach kids about the Narren tradition. All the Narren arrived at the library without their masks on. The kids were able to get up close to the masks and touch them and see it was all good fun.

Saturday’s event was well attended by families. Several families acknowledged their kids were a little nervous around the Narren, but the event went a long way to helping them get comfortable with them.

Fifteen Narren masks were on display at the library Saturday to allow the kids to inspect the wooden faces.

The program included introductions to each of the Narren characters appearing at the event. Some of the kids were able to collect trading cards featuring their backstories.

In-between character introductions, the Narren sang and dance with the kids.

A new Narren-themed story book was read aloud to the kids. The book was called “Poppy and Karoline’s New Treat.” The picture book told the story of Narren characters Poppy and Karoline working in the famous Historical Society Popcorn Wagon.

At the end of the event, each child was given a “schulutüte” or school cone. The schulutüte is a German tradition of giving students a tote candy and presents on their first day of school.

This was the first time since 2020 the Narren were able to hold the children’s event for Fasching, due to the COVID pandemic.