Mainz Carnival (Rosenmontag Parade)

The Rosenmontag parade is the main street event of Mainz carnival. In 1838 the Mainzer Carneval-Verein became the first carnival club in the city charged with organising and staging the street carnival, above all this parade, and it still carries out that task.

Mainz carnival is described as placing an unusually strong focus on political and literary humour and commentary. The parade reflects this with large themed floats built by the MCV, which satirise local and regional topics as well as national and world politics.

The 2027 edition is confirmed for 8 February in Mainz, Germany, and is run by the Mainzer Carneval-Verein 1838 e.V. (MCV). The access details are not yet confirmed. The parade is expected to begin at 11:11 and wind through central Mainz. The grandstand seats at Theaterplatz are expected to need tickets, arranged through the organiser, while the streets are expected to be open to the public.

The Mainzer Carneval-Verein also holds sessions, where 11 committee members take their seats on a mock government bench, with the session president at its centre.

The club's court ballet brings carnival to the stage in dance. Each year it presents audiences with a new themed dance that takes in the many sides of Mainz carnival.

The club is one of 4 carnival corporations that each year present Mainz carnival to a mass television audience in a televised session.

The Mainzer Carneval-Verein, founded in 1838, was the city's first carnival club and was charged with organising the street carnival and the Rosenmontag parade. A procession held in Mainz in 1837 under the motto Krähwinkler Landsturm is regarded as a forerunner of today's parade.

The political edge of Mainz carnival goes back to the early 19th century, when revellers used it to ridicule the French soldiers quartered in the city. The uniforms worn by the carnival guards still recall those of the Austrian, Prussian and French troops garrisoned in Mainz between 1792 and 1866.

The parade route has changed 35 times since 1838. The last change, in 1995, was needed because rising visitor numbers made the route through parts of the old town impossible for safety reasons.