The Largest Student Carnival / Rising like a phoenix / Caen 2025 / Normandy, France

Highlights Let’s go out together! We are in Caen, Normandy, France. The student carnival of Caen will begin soon. We are now on the campus of Caen University. Many people are gathering. The students will start in front of the university and march 2.4km (1.5 mi) to the Exhibition Square. The march hasn’t even started yet, but the students are already excited. Two koalas are waving at us. They even bowed politely. The carnival procession has begun. One of the students waved at us. After this, many people will also wave at us. That makes the video more interesting. This is the float pulling the leading group. “Caen is under our protection.”, the banner reads. This is the second float. The second group is huge. A backpack will fly. Look! It’s flying. Let’s take good care of our things! What’s rare about this carnival is that, as the name suggests, students organise it. It has a long history, with the first student-organised carnival taking place in 1894. We can see the Men’s Abbey ahead. In 1894, it was not called a carnival but a Charity Cavalcade. A set of cardboard boxes is walking. The student processions continued even after two world wars. In 1946, a law was passed to close brothels, and three years later, in 1949, students carried a social satire about it on a student procession float. A character who alludes to the mayor at the time was portrayed as a customer at a brothel. The mayor at the time was so enraged by this that the city cut all subsidies for the student parade. The student organisers of the charity cavalcade subsequently struggled financially, and 1956 was the last time an organised procession was held. Although organised events were no longer held, students continued to hold charity processions until they finally came to an end in 1963. We arrived in front of the Men’s Abbey. We will watch the carnival here for a while. In front of us is the Church of Saint-Étienne-le-Vieux, an old church that is now partially in ruins. The Caen Student Carnival has risen like a phoenix. Nicolas Deschamps and other performing arts students revived the carnival in 1996. Instead of satire and political demands, the new Carnival has become a pure celebration of the end of winter and the arrival of spring. According to organisers, the number of participants in the first Regeneration Carnival was between 3,000 and 4,000 people. Since 2022, the number has consistently exceeded 30,000. How many people will be announced in 2025? That’s an incredible number of people. Let’s find various disguises and have fun! The official website of this student carnival describes it as “the largest student carnival in Europe.” Ouest-France, a regional French daily newspaper, investigated in 2024 whether this was true. The conclusion was that, although it cannot be said to be 100% correct, it is thought to be the largest in Europe. I also looked into it online. I searched for “Student Carnival” in four languages: French, English, Spanish, and Portuguese. But the first one to come out is always the Student Carnival of Caen. Indeed, we can find other student-run carnivals, but they are nowhere near the scale of Caen’s. My conclusion is not 100% correct, but I think that Caen’s student carnival is probably the largest in the world. If anyone has a counterexample, please let me know in the comments. Let’s move on. “Carnival day” “I am sober.” “I tell you that the Caen carnival is excellent.” “Very good experience and nothing to say. ” “Very good.” “Nobody is drunk.” “Nobody is creating trouble.” “Everyone is here and everyone is enjoying it.” “Everyone’s having fun, everyone’s there, and everyone’s doing hoo hoo.” “It’s the Caen carnival. We’re having fun.” “This is the principle of the Caen carnival.” “You know, I’ve been doing carnival for 5 years.” “Never a fight, never anything. So good.” “Carnival is like home to me.” “We have fun, we laugh, we act crazy, and we laugh.” “It’s European. The best carnival in Europe.” “It’s historic.” “That’s great. Look over there! Look at the people!” “Did you already know that?” “It’s global. All over the world.” We arrived at the entrance to the exhibition square. The floats’ role ends here. There are so many people here that I’m not sure whether to go in or not. I saw his bright smile and decided to go in. There are also so many people behind me that I cannot go back. It’s a state of shoving and pushing. We somehow managed to get inside. I can see my favourite train. I was surprised! But thanks a lot! I was examined. I have not been told the results of the examination yet. Just kidding. It is also announced here to be the biggest student carnival in Europe. The countdown begins. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 The evening part of the festival has begun. It has just been announced that the number of participants is 36,000 in 2025. This is a new record. Thank you for watching. Please click the “Like,” “Subscribe,” and “Bell” buttons if you like this video and this channel!

We go to see the student carnival held in Caen, Normandy, France. Caen’s student carnival is said to be the largest in Europe. Its history dates back to the end of the 19th century. It is extremely rare worldwide for a student-organized carnival to attract more than 30,000 people. The Caen Carnival, which has grown to such a large scale today, closed once its history in 1963. However, 33 years later, in 1996, a group of performing arts students raised the Caen Student Carnival like a phoenix. When the event first resumed, there were fewer than 4,000 participants, but since 2022, the number has consistently exceeded 30,000. Be sure to check out one of the world’s largest student carnivals, held in the city of Caen, which has a population of just under 110,000.

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