Pressbaum named Lower Austria’s carnival capital

Pressbaum will become Lower Austria’s carnival capital for the coming season when it hosts the traditional carnival opening on Wednesday, ORF reported.

The ceremony begins at 11.11 a.m. on November 11, when the town in the St. Pölten district will be formally given the title. The occasion marks the start of carnival guilds’ preparations and activities, not the carnival season itself. In Austria, carnival is usually celebrated from January 7, the day after Epiphany, until Ash Wednesday.

The Duckhüttler carnival guild in Pressbaum is hosting the 52nd Lower Austrian event. Since 1974, a different carnival guild in the province has hosted the annual ceremony, and its town is then named the carnival capital for the coming season. Neunkirchen hosted last year.

A procession of carnival guilds will head towards Pressbaum’s Kirchenplatz from 9.45 a.m. The programme includes a fanfare at 11.11 a.m. and the crowning of this year’s regional forest prince and princess: Barbara Breier, known as “Barbara I of Großspitalien”, and Christian Köpfelsberger, known as “Christian I of Sesselberg zu Pressbaum”.

The Pressbaum guild’s call is “Tu Pre Wo”, referring to the Wienerwald municipalities of Tullnerbach, Pressbaum and Wolfsgraben. The response is “Schluck, Schluck”.