Faschings in Heidelberg

So, as promised, we headed out to the Faschings parade to day in Heidelberg and took plenty of photos of the fun to share! I love the Heidelberg parade--it is still small enough to not be completely overwhelming (as I suspect that Mainz and Cologne must be), but big enough to feel like a serious party (though, I LOVE some of the small town celebrations as well--unfortunately we were unable to get to any this year).  The estimates are that approximately 10,000 people viewed the parade in Heidelberg this year.

Marika and I headed downtown with our friends Karla and Elizabeth.  The parade has the traditional 2:11 start time (I have been unsuccessful at learning why all Fashcings events must start at 11 after the hour--does anyone know?).  Trams stop running downtown at around 1:00, so we headed out about 12:30 in order to be sure we made it.  We planned to eat lunch downtown so that we could stay warm while we waited for parade time.

We ended up on the same tram as most of the Eisbaren (polar bear) band..  They even played a couple of songs along the way (which, yes, is rather loud in an enclosed space, but it is all a part of the experience!):

After lunch, we donned face paints and costume pieces  and headed out into the cold along with thousands of others caught up in the celebrations.

All of the kids are carrying sacks because they still pelt spectators with candy (and little bags of popcorn or peanuts, hair clips, etc) that the kids collect at parades here in Germany.  No barriers, little kids chasing down candy, free flowing alcohol among marching band members, this is so not America!

There is really not much that I can SAY to convey the atmosphere.  This year, like most was cold (about 25 degrees), yet everyone sticks around to watch.  It is festive, and there is a fair amount of drinking--but I have never yet seen someone sick, or belligerent or out of control from the drinking or broken bottles, etc; it remains a family atmosphere and I  have no issue with Rio viewing the parade with friends, etc.  In addition to the candy, it is common for parade participants to dump confetti on spectators  "write" on them with facepaints or lipstick, etc.  No one is worried about liability for, well, anything so far as I can tell.  One thing I really love is that those in the various bands and on the floats range in age from very young kids up through people probably in their 80s.  There is absolutely NO age limit on the fun--in any direction.  

And now, I will quit trying to explain it, and just let the photos (most taken by Marika) do the talking.

The Opening Act

The Ziegelhausen Hexen (Witches)

Yes--they ARE handing out little cups of champagne to spectators as they go!

This is the first year we have seen something quite this creepy.  There was a whole group of them.

Could these little ones BE any cuter?

The eisbaren OFF the tram!

The camera battery died about two groups before the end of the parade.  The final float is always a large truck playing techno music and sponsored by a local radio station.  A large percentage of the crowd follows this "party truck" and the dancing and fun grows bigger and bigger as the parade winds through downtown.  Eventually the parade ends near the night clubs at the end of the pedestrian zone, and the die hard partiers flood the clubs and stay for hours (we head right back OUT of downtown and away from the chaos--the parade itself is just the right amount of fun and partying for us).

  I hope you enjoy the photos as much as we enjoyed the parade.

Hadley