One of the best things about Europe is its carnivals and festivals, most of which date back a good few hundred years. When Europeans party, they party hard, and whenever a celebration comes up they flock to the streets in their thousands, making the scene a fantastic place to be. Coming up is the Cologne Carnival, Germany’s extravaganza which over a million people are expected to attend. Just to let you know, the idea of Carnivals date backs to Roman times and possibly even earlier, but they were adopted into Christian Europe as a last splurge of frivolity and decadence before the fasting and self-deprivation of Lent, which is why they are all not-so-coincidentally clustered around January/February time. So Carnivals are really a chance to let your hair down, and if you are doing a European Carnival crawl, don’t miss this one. Here’s a quick rundown of how it goes:
31st Jan: Altweiberfastnacht, aka Women’s Carnival Day
Thursday the 31st will start early in the morning, with the ladies of the city – and of course all visiting ladies, too – donning the fancy dress of their choice and heading on out, either to work or into town, until the clock strikes 10am. From this point the working day is generally a wash-out, because it’s time to head to the Alter Markt. Here, at precisely 11.11am, the Carnival is officially declared open for business. In true Carnival, back-to-our-roots style, the opening is done by Carnival figures: The Prince, the Peasant and the Virgin.
1st Feb
More general partying on Friday, but take it easy... you want to ease gently back into this after plunging in last night. A good option today is to take a city tour – if you rock up at the tourist office from the late morning, they’ll be running tours. And I daresay you’ll have time to stop off for a few drinks along the way, in preparation for the evening’s parties and masked balls.
2nd Feb
The traditional time to start on Saturday is 10.30am, beginning your day as you mean to go on, with a morning drink. Or two, if you like. After this, head to Neumarkt. This is the hub of Saturday’s celebrations – all through the afternoon you will find the traditional carnival characters dressed up, having a traditional boogie, and generally entertaining all and sundry. This one is quite a big party night... which isn’t too much of a surprise.
3rd Feb: Carnival Sunday
Parades and parties through the city on Sunday, including school groups etc, followed by parties and masked balls in the evening. Don’t get up before 11am – enjoy the lie-in. In theory, you’ll need it from the night before and in preparation for....
4th Feb: Rosenmontag aka Rose Monday
And this is where it was all heading – the biggest and best part of the carnival. Rose Monday is celebrated by a 6 hour parade, all in the fanciest of dress. It starts shortly before 11am (10.49am, to be precise), and anyone can join in. It’s likely to be a very messy evening, too, with the celebrations continuing throughout the night in pubs, halls, bars, restaurants – you name it.
5th Feb: Veilchendienstag aka Violet Thursday
This is traditionally time for the Nubbelverbrennung – the ritual and symbolic burning of the carnival, to wash away the sins committed in the Carnival madness before the fasting of Lent will ensure that your soul is squeaky clean. As you can imagine, many a sin is committed, as the sinners are safe in the knowledge that all will be forgiven soon afterwards. The level of your naughtiness is between you and your conscience.
6th Feb: Ash Wednesday
And we say goodbye to debauchery and self-indulgence as we start Lent, and this day is traditionally celebrated in Germany by eating fish for your dinner.