carnival
Fools under great pressure in the face of rising prices
Foolish fun has its costs – and this year it is particularly difficult financially. photo
© picture alliance / dpa
The rising prices are also making things difficult for the fools this year: Various moves have to be canceled due to cost prices.
Foolish fun and skyrocketing costs – they don’t go well together. In a number of cities in Germany, carnivalists have to cancel their parades due to the high costs.
Fools and jesters often hold their ground against the ubiquitous price increases.
Take Erfurt as an example: Thuringia’s largest carnival parade falls through again after the compulsory Corona break. The Erfurter Carneval Community (GEC) canceled the move planned for February 19. GEC President Thomas Kemmich cites rising costs for staff and security as the reasons. So it is not possible to organize the move in terms of scope, quality, safety and standards as usual.
The Leipzig carnival parade was only saved thanks to donations. After an appeal, enough money was raised, says the president of the funding committee, Steffen Hoffmann. The Rose Sunday parade was on the brink because of the sharp increase in costs for garbage disposal and medical services, for example, and the loss of income.
Even in the carnival stronghold of Rhineland-Palatinate, several carnival parades were canceled, for example in Frankenthal and Bingen. The reason given is usually high costs for increased security requirements.
There are no carnival parades in Brandenburg. The “Train of Happy People” in Cottbus, probably East Germany’s largest again, is now taking place for the first time since the pandemic. There are also no parades during the Swabian-Alemannic carnival.
Those who stand by the wayside on the Rose Monday parade in the Rhineland could get fewer camels than before. Because sweets have become more expensive, some train passengers don’t have as much with them. But the crowds of visitors are likely to be large: “I think that if it doesn’t rain cats and dogs that day, then we can definitely expect an increased crowd,” says Cologne train manager Holger Kirsch. The festival committee in Cologne does not comment on the costs in detail. The train is generally “deficit”, that’s no secret.
Alemannic Fools’ Ring Association of Swabian-Alemannic Fools’ Guilds Carneval Club Wasungen