In Brazil, they celebrate mainly in Rio; in the U.S. it''''s principally New Orleans. The carnival season, also known as Mardi Gras elsewhere, is celebrated nationally in Germany.  Called "Fasching" in Bavaria, "Karneval," in the Cologne area or "Fasnacht" in the SouthWest , season kicks off on November 11 at 11:11 a.m. (also called St. Martin''''s Day in southern Germany) and escalates on Shrove Monday  through fever pitch, reached on Shrove Tuesday, the eve of Lent in the Christian calendar. The first written record of the Köln carnival is from the year 1341, so Germans have been partying for a long time!

Major celebrations:

    Cologne: Everything begins on  "Fasteloven "  (womens carnival), the thursday before Shrove Tuesday with a huge parade at which perfect strangers clad in elaborate costumes kiss one another. In bars, revelers sing along to songs with "deep" lyrics like "The caravan is moving on, the sultan is thirsty." It''''s culminating in the huge Rose Monday''''s parade. The city''''s bars make 40 percent of their annual revenue on that day alone. While the huge  Rose Monday''''s parade is mainly touristic, the "Schull- und Veedelszoech"  (school- and neighborhood-parades) on sunday are more originally and prefered by the residents. More information: Karneval in Köln
    Mainz is Germany''''s other big carnival city. Their Rosenmontag parade featured more than 150 floats totalling 7 Kms in length with over 9000 participants. Celebrations in both Mainz and Cologne, which rival eachother fiercely for top honors, are broadcast live by German television.
    Southern Germany, especially Swabia, refers to the time of the year as Fasnet, and keeps closer ties to ancient Alemannic customs of pre-Christian times. The Black Forest city of Villingen-Schwenningen is known for a large festival in this vein, as is Freiburg im Breisgau, one of Baden-Württemberg''''s prettiest cities. Worth seeing is the "Narrensprung" (jester''''s jump) in Rottweil.
    Munich is also not to be outdone, although its Fasching celebrations are not equal to those of Mainz and Cologne, since (after all) it is the Oktoberfest city! Nonetheless, the Bavarian capital manages to field a lively display which culminates in February on Shrove Tuesday with the Dance of the Market Women in the city''''s famous Viktualienmarkt.
    Northern and Eastern Germany also celebrates, although those visiting any of the other carnival towns will tell you their celebrations lack the "oomph" of those found farther south, usually making a crack about "Prussian orderliness: to boot.
 

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