FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Carnival Season Kicks Off in Düsseldorf 

Four months of parties, costume balls, and all kinds of celebrations with humor at the core – that’s Carnival season in Düsseldorf.  It begins with a bang on November 11 and ends with an even bigger bang, the Rose Monday Parade, on February 11, 2013.   Much more than just a fun-filled way to pass the coldest months, Carnival season in Düsseldorf is the serious science of letting your hair down, and the city has it down to a T.

Düsseldorf, Germany – One of the city’s claims to fame is hosting the “Longest Bar in the World” (260 bars and pubs in under a square mile).  That’s enough fun on any day, but it’s winter time when Düsseldorf’s historic Old Town is really hot.  November 11, the date of the carnival season kick-off, begins four months of festivities, an organized way of being out of control as only the Germans can manage, and Düsseldorf is at the center of Germany’s Carnival fun.

There will be more than 300 Carnival sessions, parties, costume balls, and a thick coat of humor across Düsseldorf, plus an annual new motto on top of that.  This year’s motto is:  “Och dat noch” (“Now we’ll have to deal with THAT”) – a humorous way of shrugging off the weight of our troubles.  And that’s the Carnival spirit: It may be cold and things may not be perfect, but we still celebrate.  If you can do that, you fit right in. Try saying the motto out loud, and you’re halfway there.

To jump into the Carnival madness, just hop on a plane (there are non-stop flights to Düsseldorf International Airport (DUS) from 11 North American cities), and you’ll be in the thick of things in mere minutes after you land.

This year’s highlights include the traditional awakening of the Carnival spirit “Hoppeditz” at the town’s square (“Marktplatz”) on 11-11 at 11:11 AM, as well as several street carnivals: the “Old Ladies’ Carnival” on February 7, when women take over city hall and cut men’s ties off with scissors, a “Youth Procession” on February 9, a family-oriented “Carnival Sunday” on famous shopping boulevard Königsallee on February 10, and a “Barrel Race” – yes, that’s people in barrels racing – on February 10.  The season culminates on Rose Monday (2013 date: February 11).   One million people, many dressed up in costumes and called fools, line up to watch the exuberant Rose Monday Parade with its colorful and creative floats.

The city has no fewer than 60 Carnival clubs, and their members are among the 5,500 parade participants who also make up the 45 bands and 70 floats. The Rhine region is known as Germany’s center of Carnival festivities, or Rhenish Carnival, and Carnival in Düsseldorf is one of the strongholds.

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Düsseldorf Marketing & Tourism GmbH is the visitors and convention bureau of the city of Düsseldorf. Its responsibilities include tourism and city marketing, as well as conference and meeting marketing, hotel reservation services, fairs and convention services, city event ticket sales and advance ticket reservations. For more information, visit www.visitduesseldorf.de.                                         

Düsseldorf International Airport, Germany’s Next Generation Hub^TM, offers several non-stop flights from US & Canadian cities (Atlanta, Chicago, Ft. Myers, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Newark, Toronto, San Francisco, Vancouver), as well as convenient connections to many European cities.   For more information about the airport, visit www.fly2dus.com and http://dus-int.de/dus_en/.