The “fifth season of the year” as Carnival is called, begins on November 11th at 11:11 AM. A week-long street festival, also called “the crazy days”, takes place between the Fat Thursday and ends on Ash Wednesday. The “crazy days” of Carnival are celebrated with parties on the streets, in public squares and in pubs. But the highlight of the street carnival is Rose Monday with the march of “Cologne's Dreigestirn” or Triumvirate – the Prince, the Peasant and the Maiden, who pay a large sum of money for their privileges – in the kilometre-long Rosenmontag procession going through the city.
