Eindhoven Zoo traditionally closes carnival with herring hopping with the polar bears

At Eindhoven Zoo both visitors and animals can traditionally end the carnival on Ash Wednesday. At the zoo in Mierlo that day at exactly 11:11 a.m. you can bite herring with the polar bears.

Visitors to the zoo are treated to the traditional herring with onions at the enclosure. Polar bear mother Frimas, father Henk and their two cubs will have the herring incorporated into special ice creams.

Closing together

"We love carnival here and it is therefore celebrated extensively in the area," says general manager Chantal Ermers. "We therefore enjoy ending this festive period in the traditional way together with our visitors. Just like the carnival celebrants, polar bears love herring, which is why we like to share this tradition with them."

Herringhappen is the way to end the carnival season. Traditionally, after the festivities, Lent began, a period when no meat, but still fish, could be eaten. After getting the Ascension Cross, as a sign of penitence, on this Ash Wednesday the carnival celebrants would eat a herring together, to look back on the past festive period and usher in the next phase together.