Start of the carnival season Big crowd expected for carnival opener in Bonn
Bonn · The start of carnival season falls on a Saturday this year. The Bonn Carnival Festival Committee is expecting many people at the Marktplatz in Bonn city center for the kick-off to the season. A few surprises can be expected.
Because the start of the new carnival season falls on a Saturday this year, the Bonn Carnival Festival Committee has come up with some new ideas for the „Elften im Elften“ (“Eleventh in Eleventh”) to attract even more revelers to the Marktplatz. One examples that the festival committee, headed by President Marlies Stockhorst, is offering a five-hour open-air event in front of the Old Town Hall for the first time so that the people of Bonn can celebrate the start of the season in style.
Event starts at 10 a.m.
If you want to be there from the start, you have to arrive early in the morning. For the first time, the carnival event starts early at 10 am. Also new: the stage will be turned around by 180 degrees and will be located directly in front of the Old Town Hall with a view of the Marktplatz. "We want to ensure that all the people, even those who happen to be walking around the Marktplatz, immediately recognize that the Bonn carnival opening is being celebrated in front of the town hall," explains Vice President Mirko Feld.
A special highlight will be when the new theme song is introduced, sung by the duo "Schokolädcher". Anja Ehrhardt and Silvia Smolka put Bonn's carnival season into a song: "Op en der Kneip, de Stroß oder em Saal, mir fiere Bönnsche Karneval”. (This translates loosely to something like, “whether in the pub, on the street or in the hall, we celebrate Bonn carnival”).
Five hours of music on the Marktplatz
"We are delighted to be able to offer the revelers a much longer event this year than in the past," says Marlies Stockhorst. Many locally well-known carnival names will ensure for a jovial atmosphere and at 11:11 am, the Bonn carnival royalty will march onto the stage together with the Mayor of Bonn, Katja Dörner.
The party continues
For those who want to party on after the official opening, they can go to the armory of the Bonn Honor Guard on Budapester Strasse, for one. Prince Cornelius I and Bonna Carina I will pay a visit to the carnival party there after the big event in the city center. The guard of honor's marching band will play carnival music starting at 12 noon and a DJ will play music.
The festival committee and all Bonn carnival fans can start the new carnival season on an even happier note thanks to the latest news: the Rhineland Regional Association (LVR) announced on Wednesday that the LVR will provide a total of 524,000 euros in funding for several arts and entertainment projects in Bonn in 2024. This includes the "200 years of Bonn Carnival" anniversary, which will be celebrated in 2026.
(Orig. text: Holger Willcke; Translation: ck)
