Cologne Street Carnival 2025

The mad days in Cologne last for 6 days and start on ›Weiberfastnacht‹ – the Thursday before Carnival Monday. Streets, trains, trams and pubs are crowded with people – many of them with costumes – drinking, flirting, singing, swinging & swaying. Sunday afternoon sees the school group and borough parades, but the highlight of the Cologne Carnival is the kilometre-long procession on ›Rosenmontag‹ (Rose Monday). The Carnival ends in the night from Tuesday to Ash Wednesday when at midnight dolls called ›Nubbel‹ are burned all over the city – the Nubbel symbolizes the scapegoat responsible for all the sins commited during the Carnival days...