On Altweiber, one of Fastnacht's kick-off events, people in Mainz gather in front of city hall to celebrate. Photo (c) Click Clack Gorilla

Today in Mainz’s city center stands and stages are being set up and decked out with fans of blue, white, red, and yellow while in front of the Rathaus (city hall) a few blocks away a huge crowd has gathered.  Music blares from a large stage set up next to the Fastnachtsbrunnen (the carnival fountain) and is surrounded by people dressed as clowns, bumblebees, witches, animals, and just about anything and everything you could imagine.  (I even saw one woman dressed up as the city’s cathedral.)  Most have a beer in hand, bright colors abound, and everyone is singing along to the music being played onstage.  Welcome to Altweiber or Weiberfasching, one of the kick off celebrations during the Mainzer Fastnacht (pronounced in the local dialect as “meenzer fassenacht”).  And today, if you happen to be a woman, you’re welcome to run around with a pair of scissors cutting off people’s ties.

Though Fastnacht celebrations technically started on November 11th, today is the day when people really start warming up for the big festival.  Men and women in colorful uniforms have been on the streets selling Fastnacht trinkets to passersby for months.  And now the day has finally come when the city can put on its favorite brightly colored costume and dance in the streets with abandon—most stores and businesses either closed or have reduced hours during the holidy, which lasts until just after Ash Wednesday.

Not wanting YG readers who don’t happen to be living in one of Germany’s Fastnacht capitals (Mainz, Düsseldorf, and Cologne), I headed into the city this morning to take a few photos of the festivities.  If you had been with me, this is what you would have seen…

The closer I got to the center of town, the more plentiful and colorful the costumes became. At a crosswalk I ran into this group of pink-wigged folks. Photo (cc) Click Clack Gorilla

Almost every store had a Fastnacht-themed window display. This bakery was selling donuts at a special stand being run by a woman dressed as a nun. Photo (c) Click Clack Gorilla

Nearing the Fastnachtsbrunnen the costumes start to come on thick. Photo (c) Click Clack Gorilla

At the Fastnachtsbrunnen, Mainz. Photo (c) Click Clack Gorilla

Bzzzz! Photo (c) Click Clack Gorilla

The scene at Schillerplatz where Fastnacht songs were being sung by hundreds of costumed party-goers. Photo (c) Click Clack Gorilla

Photo (c) Click Clack Gorilla

Read another YG blog about Fastnacht here.