“Alaaf” and “Helau”! During Carnival, and especially on Rose Monday, revelers and merrymakers across Germany celebrate the peak of the “fifth season”.
Popular party hotspots:
- The carnival stronghold Cologne attracts around 1.5 million visitors to its “Zoch” (parade) every year.
- In Düsseldorf, about 700,000 people gather for the Rose Monday parade.
- In Mainz, around 550,000 revelers watch the parade.
- In Aachen, the number is approximately 240,000.
The parades in major cities are large-scale logistical operations. While people celebrate exuberantly, a perfectly coordinated system runs behind the scenes. Within just a few days, hundreds of tons of throws, beverages, and equipment must be transported from A to B. This happens “just in time”, as the delivery and distribution of “Kamelle” (sweets) and “Strüssjer” (small bouquets in the Cologne dialect) must be precisely aligned with the sequence of carnival floats and marching groups.
In Cologne alone, nearly 300 tons of sweets and other items are thrown from the floats into the crowds, including:
- 700,000 chocolate bars,
- 220,000 boxes of chocolates,
- and 300,000 of the mentioned “Strüssjer”.
However, the celebration also has a “downside”: Rose Monday parades and street carnival leave behind a large amount of waste. In Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Mainz, this is estimated at a total of around 700 tons. Already at the start of the session on 11 November 2025, around 90 tons of waste were generated in Cologne. The waste mainly consists of leftover sweets and “Strüssje”, plastic cups, glass bottles, and party decorations. From Weiberfastnacht to Ash Wednesday, more than 1,000 employees are deployed in Cologne to clean the city. On Rose Monday alone, 450 employees and 200 vehicles are responsible for clearing the remains. Cleanup after the “Zoch” begins as soon as the last float has passed a section of the route. After a rough initial cleaning by manual sweeping crews, large street sweepers are deployed. The main routes are often cleaned within 10 to 20 minutes after the parade ends in order to reopen them for traffic. Sources: Statista, VKU, Kommuna, Cologne Carnival Committee, AWB Cologne
