The biggest parades and festivals in the area are in Cologne (THE big one) and Mainz and are held on Rosenmontag (Rose Monday). Many smaller towns have their parades any time in the weekend before, or even two weekends before. But my heart belongs to the Heidelberg Parade, which is always on Shrove Tuesday (or Fat Tuesday--think Mardi Gras timing) and always starts at 14:11.
Heidelberg's parade is just the right size. Big enough to feel really special but small enough to never feel overwhelming or dangerous (I have no qualms about the kids being downtown for it, with or without me).
This year we were blessed with amazingly warm and sunny weather. My in laws, Hank and Jan were visiting and got to see their first Fashcings Parade too--it is fun to take someone new.
We have a pattern, we take one of the last trams downtown (they are all shut down by 13:00 to clear the route), walk down to the Pizza Hut to sit and have some desserts and drinks (and stay warm most years) and head out for a spot around 15:00 (it takes a while for the parade to wind its way down). Bismarkplatz is always very crowded, but we have never had an issue get a "front row" space further into the route.
This year we were amused by a group of students from Mexico who were waiting just across from us. They would whistle and cheer and hold up signs that said "10" every time a pretty girl walked past. It was all in a fun and silly way, not at all mean spirited or over the top. I thought I had a photo of them, but I am failing to find it. Dang!
And here are several photos from this year's parade (all that white stuff; it's confetti!):
As you can see, we were having lots of fun watching this giant party stream by:
and were still pretty happy as we headed back to the trams after it passed us by:
Faschings is definitely one of those events that I highly recommend you try to see at least once in a lifetime--worth a spot on the bucket list for sure.
--Hadley
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