Earplugs for carnival: how to get through the four days without ringing ears

Carnival doesn’t last one evening, but days in a row: in the pub, on the street along the parade and in the tent. That’s hard on your ears. Below you can read how loud carnival is, which earplugs you can keep in all day, when to have them fitted and what to do if your ears ring afterwards anyway.

How loud is carnival?

Whether sound causes damage depends on how loud it is and how long you’re exposed to it. A common rule of thumb takes 80 dB(A) for 8 hours as the safe daily dose, and every 3 dB more halves the safe exposure time. At 100 dB you reach your daily dose in about 5 minutes.

At carnival you go well beyond that. ENT doctor Susanne Balter of the Jeroen Bosch Hospital in the Netherlands mentioned sound levels of up to 103 decibels to the Dutch regional broadcaster Omroep Brabant. And you’re not in it for an hour, but from the afternoon until deep into the night, for four days. Your ears hardly get any rest in between.

Carnival falls in February or early March every year. In 2027 the Dutch carnival runs from Saturday 6 to Tuesday 9 February; in Belgium and Germany the main carnival days fall in the same week. On Cyprus, carnival follows the Orthodox calendar and usually falls a few weeks later.

Which earplugs work at carnival?

You want earplugs that bring the volume down a lot, but still let you sing along and talk to your friends. That’s what a music filter does: the sound comes down, conversations stay clear. Foam earplugs are better than nothing, but they make everything sound dull, and that’s why many people take them out again after an hour.

Custom-made earplugs have another advantage at carnival: they’re made from an impression of your ear, so they stay in when you dance, jump or put on a hat. They don’t press, not even after a whole day. At Audinc you choose from two music earplugs:

Want the natural sound of a flat filter, but the design of the Custom Music, for example in hard acrylic? A Pure Tones filter also fits in a Custom Music earplug. Ask about it during your fitting.

Not sure about the strength? Within 3 months of delivery we change your filter free of charge for a lighter or stronger one. After that you can order separate filters in our shop, so you can change them yourself whenever you like. Playing in a carnival band or brass band? Then also read why musicians wear custom earplugs. You’ll find all the options side by side at festival earplugs and music earplugs.

Have them fitted in time

The production time of our custom earplugs is 15 working days, or 5 working days as a rush order. If you have them fitted at least four weeks before carnival, you’ll have them in plenty of time. Taking the impressions takes about 5 minutes; we plan 20 minutes for the whole appointment. How that works, you can read in fitting earplugs: how it works.

In the carnival region in the south of the Netherlands you’ll find us in Eindhoven, Den Bosch, Breda and Maastricht, among other places. In Belgium we’re in Antwerp, Brussels, Essen, Ghent, Kortrijk and Roeselare, and on Cyprus in Paphos (book by phone or WhatsApp). For the other locations, book your appointment online.

Ringing ears after carnival?

Do you hear a ringing, a whistle or a hiss in your ears after a day of partying? That’s a sign your ears have had too much. ENT doctor Ferdinand Timmer of the Amphia Hospital in Breda (the Netherlands) called that kind of ringing an alarm signal when speaking to Omroep Brabant: for most people it disappears, but for some it stays. His advice: bring your earplugs.

The ringing usually fades within a few hours to a day. Give your ears a rest and don’t go straight back into the pub without protection the next day. If the ringing hasn’t gone after 24 to 48 hours, see your GP. How long that ringing normally lasts and what you can do, you can read in ringing in your ears after a night out. You’ll find more about ringing in the ears on our page about tinnitus.

Going to festivals after carnival too? The same rules apply; read how loud a festival is.