The event brought families and visitors from New Ulm  Fairmont, Gibbon, Springfield and other nearby communities to mark the German tradition of revelry before Lent.

This is our third year doing Fasching here at the Best Western Plus,” organizer Duane Laffrenzen said.

After a years-long hiatus, the New Ulm Narren revived the pre-Lenten festival following the pandemic, and attendance has continued to climb. 

“Fasching had kind of stopped in New Ulm for a number of years, so three years ago, the Narren group decided we wanted to try and resurrect the Fasching event,” Laffrenzen said.

Attendees of all ages hit the dance floor to the upbeat sounds of the Nate Fredericksen Band at Fasching, polkas, waltzes, and laughter echoing through the Best Western ballroom

The ballroom offered a relaxed, social atmosphere. Families moved between tables, children decorated paper and plastic masks, creating “little miniature Narren running around the event,” as Laffrenzen put it, while longtime Narren members greeted attendees warmly.

The Nate Fredericksen Band made their debut this year, replacing the longtime Wendinger Band.

“This is our first year with Nate,” a longtime Narren said. “Prior to that we had the Wendinger band.”

The band kept the dance floor active with polkas, waltzes, and familiar standards, turning the event into a lively mid-winter gathering for re-connection and tradition. Accessibility remained central: “It is very family-friendly,” Laffrenzen said.

At the heart of the celebration were the Narren themselves, New Ulm’s masked “fools” in traditional wooden masks, adorned with bells and performing choreographed movements. 

The Nate Fredericksen Band performs in the ballroom at the Best Western Plus New Ulm during the Fasching celebration Sunday in New Ulm, Minn.

“We all like to have bells, they’re just part of the whole experience,” Laffrenzen said. “Narren in German means fools.”

The masks demand adaptation. 

“You learn to have peripheral vision… you just feel with your feet more than your eyes sometimes,” he said.

The group, self-managed under the New Ulm Area Chamber of Commerce since 1989, was co-founded by Rita Waibel and the late Avonna Domeier. It began with appearances at Heritagefest in German wooden masks and has grown into a full cast entertaining at community events.

Laffrenzen, involved for 30-35 years, and Wayne Plagge, nearing three decades and his 80th birthday around Easter, embody the dedication. 

Two young attendees ask Narren members for some Narren trading cards at the Fasching celebration.

“When I can’t walk the parade, I’m going to retire,” Plagge joked.

A five-member committee organizes Fasching and related activities, including Kinderfasching at the library and the playful Capture the Mayor tradition, where Narren “kidnap” the mayor, cut gentlemen’s ties (a German custom), and have “seamstress Sophia” sew them back.

Downtown decorations added color: colorful “rags” (repurposed cloth strips) hanging from streets and City Hall until late March, Narrenbaums (fool trees adorned with streamers and ornaments), and large hand-decorated cardboard wall masks.

The Narren fund themselves through a mix of volunteer efforts and paid gigs at festivals like Oktoberfest and Bavarian Blast, sometimes alongside the Concord Singers, a separate group.

The traditional purpose, chasing away winter was especially fitting this year with a brief warm spell. “This year worked really good, at least for these few days,” one Narren quipped.

Narren members in costume are play-fighting at the Fasching celebration on Sunday at the Best Western Plus New Ulm.

Laffrenzen summed up the group’s enduring motivation: “The most enjoyable part is events like this where we entertain people… bringing joy and entertainment to the community.” He invited everyone to return next year.