Cologne Carnival 2024

Webcams, Dates, Rose Monday Parade, Events

Cologne Carnival, known locally as Kolner Karneval, is a mardi gras style lent carnival event taking place in the North Rhine-Westphalia city of Cologne.

The carnival has had many guises over the years and can draw it's origins back through many centuries, although the current format is widely recognised to have begun in 1823 under the control of the very first Festival Committee.

The main events that mark the Cologne carnival are the Women's Carnival day, which marks the opening of the event on the Thursday immediately preceding Fat Tuesday, and the Rose Monday parade, the largest of several parades that take place during the carnival season.

The Rose Monday Parade is huge street performance involving over 10,000 participants and watched by crowds on the streets of well over a million, with some estimates placing the spectator count as high as 1.5 million.

You can see our full range of live coverage of mardi gras and carnival events around the world here: Watch Mardi Gras live

Carnival Dates, Events

There are many events that take place throughout the city during the carnival, but the main ones to look out for are:

Women's Carnival Day on Thursday 15th February marks the official opening of the street carnival "Crazy Days", starting at 11.11am

Carnival Saturday 17th February- Funkenbiwak at Neumarkt

Rose Monday Parade (Rosenmontag) 19th February from 10.30am.

Carnival Tuesday, various parades in the city suburbs and Nubbelverbrennung (burning of the Nubbel)

Ash Wednesday 20th February - Torchlight procession at midnight

Full Schedule available here: Cologne Carnival 2024

Webcams & Streaming

There may well be a live stream broadcast of the main Rose Monday parade by local TV stations, we will post any links that we find here.

There used to be live webcams of the city, but these are now defunct, if you do know of any please do let us know!

Hotels and Accommodation

It goes without saying that accommodation prices are at a premium in Cologne during the carnival so as always we recommend making your reservation as far in advance as you can to secure the best prices.

You can check availability and make reservations for local hotels here.

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