Carnival celebrations across Germany, including parades in Cologne and Düsseldorf, were canceled due to strong winds from Storm Yulia on Sunday, local media reported.
The Schull- and Veedelszöch, or “School and District parade” in Cologne, was set to attract over 250,000 participants and visitors, according to public broadcasting news service Tagesschau.
It is the second-largest Carnival parade, after to the Rosenmontag [Rose Monday] parade in Cologne.
Read more: ‘Shalom Alaaf’: Cologne carnival music is becoming more political
The hallmark of the Schull- and Veedelszöch celebration are the colorful, unusual costumes and parade floats that are designed by schools and local community groups from the greater Cologne area.
Originally, the event had been brought forward a few hours and the route was shortened, but gale-force winds and strong rainfall struck the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia on Sunday morning, forcing its cancellation.
Read more: Sparks of divinity — Beethoven goes Carnival
Residents told to stay home
Authorities in the city warned the public not to venture outside due to the risk of injury.
As well as Cologne, Düsseldorf called off its Kö-Treiben parade, which sees musicians, people in fancy dress and families come together to move through the center of the city.
“We didn’t make the decision lightly,” said the Düsseldorf Carnival Committee spokesman, of the decision that was made in conjunction with the police, fire brigade and regulatory office.
Several events in smaller German towns and cities were also canceled.
Central and southern Germany were also expected to be impacted by severe weather.
Calmer weather is expected on Monday, so the Rose Monday parade is expected to proceed as normal. Carnival is a six-day festival celebrated between the end of February and start of March, marking the period before Lent. In Germany, it is most often celebrated in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the country’s most populous state.
Read more: Cologne’s Catherrine Leclery: ‘We are all drags’
lc/mm (AFP, dpa)
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Cologne Carnival: 11 tips for beginners
What on earth is a Jeck?
It’s what anyone celebrating Carnival in Cologne is called. Don’t shy away from revelers you don’t know. Just follow their lead. If they link arms with you, just sway along with them to the music. If they grab hold of your shoulders, it’s to form a “polonaise” conga line. That’s a good thing! Even better: sing along even if you don’t know the words. After all, you’ve got six days to learn them.
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Cologne Carnival: 11 tips for beginners
Kissing permitted
Don’t be alarmed: kissing is a popular custom throughout the festivities but especially on Weiberfastnacht, the day when women take charge which marks the start of the street Carnival. What is known here as a “Bützchen” can be a peck on the cheek or a kiss and is an expression of carnival high spirits and not to be confused with less respectable motives. Only spoilsports refuse a friendly kiss.
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Cologne Carnival: 11 tips for beginners
At the very least, a hat
Dress up in a boring sailor costume? Cologne natives won’t stand for that. Real Jecks can be recognized by their imaginative home-made costumes. At Carnival there’s no such thing as being overdressed. By consensus, a hat is the absolute minimum you are expected to wear. When trimming it, let your imagination run free — the weirder the better.
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Cologne Carnival: 11 tips for beginners
Clever costumes
Anything goes! A carnival costume is really good when it’s fit for partying, and that means outdoors — the name “street carnival” should be taken literally. But it should also adapt to indoor revelries in bars or taverns. After drinking beer the perfect costume should also serve another important practical purpose: it should cause you no trouble or delay if you need to relieve yourself.
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Cologne Carnival: 11 tips for beginners
Prick up your ears!
For Cologne, drumming is the sound of the street carnival. Wherever music groups and marching bands are, high spirits are guaranteed. People dance spontaneously, sing and sway until the wee hours. The feel-good musicians don’t just come from Cologne and the surrounding area but for many years lots of them travel from all over Europe to join the fun. So get going and follow them!
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Cologne Carnival: 11 tips for beginners
Get your tickets early!
Weiberfastnacht: At exactly 11 minutes past 11 on Thursday, the street carnival officially opens with a huge stage show on the Alter Markt in Cologne’s old town. The city’s best carnival bands perform here. It’s so popular that the square is already bursting at the seams at 9 a.m. You can only get in with a ticket, so it’s not for spontaneous visitors. But people are partying elsewhere as well.
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Cologne Carnival: 11 tips for beginners
Party in moderation!
Even on ordinary days, the Zülpicher Strasse, near the university, is popular for its bars and restaurants. At and after Weiberfastnacht, it’s a hot spot of alcoholic excess — unfortunately. In the eyes of locals, binge drinking has nothing to do with Carnival. They steer clear of this street. It’s more relaxing to celebrate on Severinstrasse, for instance.
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Cologne Carnival: 11 tips for beginners
Get jolly gracefully
If you want to party like a local, head to a pub or Brauhaus. It’s worth avoiding the over-crowded area around Cologne Cathedral. Partying goes on in every district without exception. Standing in line is part of the experience and usually enjoyable, because you strike up conversations and maybe practice a song or two in Kölsch, the name of both Cologne’s dialect as well as its beer.
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Cologne Carnival: 11 tips for beginners
Kölsch etiquette
During Carnival there are usually only bar tables in the pubs. The rest is a dance floor. The food is cold, but the beer taps run hot. Tourists are often surprised that the beer — Kölsch — comes to you. You don’t order it here; it will just keep arriving until you decline it, which you do by putting a beer mat on top of your glass. Evidently the revelers in this picture are still thirsty.
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Cologne Carnival: 11 tips for beginners
Choosing your parade
If you think there’s just one carnival parade in Cologne, the one on Rose Monday, you’d be mistaken. From the start, there are various parades in Cologne. Colorful, offbeat costumes, all home-made, are the trademark of the “Schull- und Veedelzöch.” Here only schools and clubs take part. The groups judged the best are rewarded by being given a place in the Rose Monday parade the next day.
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Cologne Carnival: 11 tips for beginners
Stay till the end
The Nubbel is a straw figure that hangs from the facades of some pubs during Carnival. On the eve of Ash Wednesday it’s taken down and “carried to the grave” in a torchlight procession. Burning the Nubbel signifies the end of Carnival. Anyone who has experienced this ritual understands that Carnival is more than just a party. It’s a folk festival that magically links people together.
Author: Anne Termèche
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/carnival-celebrations-called-off-in-cologne-d%C3%BCsseldorf-due-to-storm-yulia/a-52487828?maca=en-rss-en-ger-1023-xml-atom
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