Cologne Carnival: 11 tips for beginners

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.

Don't be alarmed — kissing is a popular custom throughout the festivities, especially on Weiberfastnacht, the day when women take charge. It 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, not to be confused with less respectable motives. Only spoilsports refuse a friendly kiss.

Dress up in a boring sailor costume? Cologne natives won't stand for that. Real Jecks can be recognized by their imaginative homemade 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 decorating it, let your imagination run free — the weirder the better.

Anything goes! A Carnival costume is ideal when it's fit for partying outdoors, since the title "street Carnival" should be taken literally. But it should also adapt to indoor revelries in bars or taverns. With all that beer drinking going on, the perfect costume should also serve another important practical purpose: it should cause you no trouble if you need to use the toilet.

Drumming is a sound heard frequently during Cologne's Carnival. Wherever music groups and marching bands can be found, 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 areas, but from all over Europe to join the fun. So get going and follow them!

Weiberfastnacht: At exactly 11 minutes past 11 on Thursday, 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.

Even on ordinary days, the Zülpicher Strasse near the university is popular for its bars and restaurants. During 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.

If you want to party like a local, head to a pub or Brauhaus. It's worth avoiding the overcrowded area around Cologne Cathedral. Partying happens 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.

During Carnival season, many bars clear out chairs to make space for dancing. And tourists are often surprised that patrons will be brought one glass of beer after another without even ordering — until they place a coaster on top of their glass to signal they no longer want any. With so much beer flowing, it's impossible not to get into the party spirit!

If you think there's just one Carnival parade in Cologne, the one on Rose Monday, you're mistaken. From the start, there are various parades in Cologne. Colorful, offbeat costumes, all homemade, are the trademark of the "Schull- und Veedelszöch" parade in which only schools and clubs take part. The groups judged the best are rewarded with a place in the Rose Monday parade the next day.

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.