Did you realize that Cologne has in fact five seasons? And I grew up for years in Chicago thinking that four was enough, but then I came here and realized what we’ve all been missing out on. In November of every year, Cologne kicks off it’s fifth season called Carnival at 11:11am on 11/11. It’s one day of complete and utter craziness with costumes, singing, dancing, etc. The Carnival season is then suspended during Advent and Christmas and apparently the real craziness happens during the picks up for a week of crazy days between Fat Thursday and Ash Wednesday. This year, November’s Carnival fell on a Sunday at the end of our shooting weeks, so thankfully I was back in time to partake in the festivities.
My tale starts the night before though, when I was figuring out what to wear. From everything I heard this was like Halloween on steroids and I didn’t want to disappoint the Germans. Unfortunately all I had was my dirndl, the traditional Bavarian dress from Oktoberfest, to wear and although I’ve fallen in love with the style I thought I would need something more for this festivity. So, during dinner with my host family they asked if I would be dressing up for Carnival and I told them all I had was my dirndl. After dinner they brought out a children’s wig for me to try on, an orange Pippy Longstocking wig, one that barely fit on my head. When that failed, my host mom went upstairs to give me one of her orange jackets she said would at least keep me warm and always be easy to find in a crowd. Instead she came down with a clown costume that I gladly took instead. She asked if I had anything to paint my face with and I told her I could use some eyeliner. She looked at me as if I was crazy- although that’s nothing new-, went back upstairs and came down with face paint. Clearly I was now set for Carnival! Host family for the win.
The next morning I woke up nice and early, put on my clown face
and walked out the door. There were a bunch of AIB students and workers
all going to Carnival so we all took trains over to Cologne together. It
was literally the most packed train I’ve ever been on. Crowds upon
crowds of people in different costumes stuffed into all the train cars, I
didn’t think we were even going to fit at first. Half an hour later we
arrived at Cologne’ Hauptbahnhof (main station) and walked over to the
main square where the big countdown at 11:11 was going to happen. All
the costumes were so entertaining to see, it was so much better than
Halloween. Everyone was so merry and excited, you couldn’t help but feel
the happiness in the air. The mass of people in the square was
overwhelming. I could barely see a thing, at one point I got on a
friend’s shoulders so I could see the stage and the immensity of the
place. Honestly I wish I could remember when it became 11:11, I think I
kind of missed the actual moment. We were all just dancing around and
talking and then suddenly it became 11:30. We did get to sing some of
the traditional Carnival songs though. The AIB had given us a CD of
Carnival songs, but I didn’t have anytime to listen to it during
shooting weeks so the only thing I knew was part of the chorus to “Viva
Colonia”. It was so much fun though, definitely a good way to unwind
after nearly 9 straight days of shooting and traveling. Once we left the main square we walked through the streets of Cologne, where I couldn’t resist getting a gelato cone, before we ended up at a dance club. I’ve never gone to a club so early in the day, but it was a blast. They played a mixture of American songs we all knew plus Carnival songs that we just gathered in a circle and kicked to! We essentially danced the afternoon away and then headed back to Bonn on a late afternoon train. The day was so fun and memorable, but the long hours of shooting were finally wearing down on me and this clown needed a nap.
Written by Sarah Bush
