For the fifth time now, Irish (and Non-Irish) locals in Berlin celebrated their annual public holiday with a big parade and live bagpipe music (provided by the Berlin Pipe Company), with lots of green and lots of beer. The St.Patrick’s Festival Berlin was launched in 2011 with a 150 people strong parade which has grown over the years to over 2000 participants in 2015.
It’s St. Patrick’s Day and thousands of Irish locals celebrated this day in Berlin with live bagpipe music (provided by the Berlin Pipe Company), a huge parade and a live concert with international guests at Berlin’s Arena, with the best of traditional Irish music, Irish dance and Irish food and drinks.
After everything started in 2011, organized by the Irish Society of Berlin, 2014 was the fourth year in a row the green festival was celebrated in Berlin.
For the third time now, St. Patrick’s Day was celebrated in Berlin, with a big Parade, an Open Air Concert, Irish music, Irish dance and typical foods and drinks.
Saint Patrick’s Day , Ireland’s national day, is a cultural and religious holiday, celebrated every year on March 17th around the world. It is named after Saint Patrick, the most commonly recognized of the patron saints of Ireland.
Over two thousand Irish and German locals and tourists participated on the parade through the borough of Kreuzberg.
Four days of celebration with a major parade to end it all. It’s the time, where the The Karneval der Kulturen (eng. Carnival of Cultures) takes place in Berlin and 5.000 dancer watched by 750.000 spectators walk the about 3,5km long road from Hermannplatz to Yorkstraße, while dancing and celebrating the most joyful day of the year.
People from all over the world come to Berlin to take a look at the colorful costumes and cheerful performances.
The idea of a carnival which presents the cultural and ethnic diversity of Berlin was developed in 1995, as a consequence to the political and economic changes since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the unification of the two German states, to highlight the cultural richness of Berlin and the often hidden treasures of its international cultural scene.
It’s St. Patrick’s Day around the globe and everyone is celebrating this special day with lots of green and lots of beer. Also for the first time, landmarks throughout the world have been illuminated green to mark the day, for example, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Niagara Falls, the London Eye, the Burj al Arab hotel in Dubai, the Cibeles fountain in Madrid, the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, the Table Mountain in Cape Town and the Television Tower in Berlin.
Berlin had his very own St. Patrick’s Day parade and about one thousand Irish tourists and locals marched to bagpipe music through the city.
More than half a million demonstrators and spectators were present at this years Parade. It was a diverse crowd: Men and women, gay and straight, young and old, from Berlin and all over the world.
The CSD Parade is a political demonstration. Every year there is a motto, and a list of demands for political changes that are necessary for the equality and acceptance of LGBT persons.
And of course it is also an opportunity to throw a big party down the streets of Berlin. There are dance beats, brilliant costumes, decorated floats, and the occasional naked upper body.
After four days, the Carnival of Cultures 2011 ended yesterday with a big parade from Hermannplatz to Yorckstraße. About 4.800 participants organised in 93 groups and about 700.000 visitors changed Kreuzberg into a sea of colours and ideas.
The street procession focussed on the cultural richness of Berlin, and also highlighted the often hidden treasures of its international cultural scene.
I took about 1000 pictures, but sadly I can’t show all of them, so I think that 29 pictures will be enough to give you an idea of what happened yesterday.
After the Narrenbaum was erected, the city was ready for the big Night Parade. Led by a couple of marching bands, thousands of different Narren (as I said yesterday, Narren are something like a jester or Joker) ran through the city. Jumping, laughing, whip lashing and tangerine throwing, it was a fascinating moment.
Every city has their own traditional costumes, first you will see the city of Rottweil with their Federhannes, Schantle and Gschell. If you can sing a well known carnival quote, you will be rewarded with a handful of candy.
Last weekend, I took a plane to Stuttgart , to watch an event which only takes place every 3-4 years, the Narrentag (which probably means something like “Day of the Jester”), organized by one of four famous carnival cities; Rottweil, Oberndorf, Elzach and Überlingen, all of them part of the Viererbund, a union between these four cities since 1958.
This year the parade took place in Oberndorf (Black Forest), about 1 hour away from Stuttgart.
As an opening ceremony, a decorated tree, the Narrenbaum, was erected, as a symbol that the Narrentag has officially begun.
Like every year, the Coca Cola Christmas Trucks were on a tour through every major city in Germany and the final parade was held in Berlin yesterday. Ten trucks with four stages and a snack bar to buy Bratwurst and Glühwein against the cold.
With -16°C (3.2°F) and heavy snowfall, it was the coldest day of the year. But that was not a real problem and thousands of people were following the parade on its way from the Kurfürstendamm, via the Potsdamer Platz and the Brandenburger Tor to its final goal, the Rote Rathaus Berlin.