Cologne Carnival 2027: dates and parade route

Cologne celebrates carnival twice: once on 11 November, when the new session opens at 11:11, and then for six days in February, when the whole city is in costume. The short answer for 2027: the street carnival starts on Weiberfastnacht, Thursday 4 February, the big Rose Monday parade (Rosenmontagszug) runs on 8 February from 10:00, and everything ends on Ash Wednesday, 10 February.

Cologne Carnival 2027: all key dates

The dates follow Easter, which falls on 28 March in 2027; Ash Wednesday is always 46 days before Easter. Weiberfastnacht, Rose Monday and Ash Wednesday as given by the city portal koeln.de; the parade times from the Festkomitee Kölner Karneval, which organises the big parades (see sources).

The motto of the 2027 session, announced by the Festkomitee, is "Morje es, wat do drus mähs!" – roughly "tomorrow is what you make of it". It puts the future in the spotlight, and many floats and costumes will play with it.

Weather in early February

Averages 2015–2024 from the ERA5 reanalysis (via Open-Meteo), rounded.

Carnival happens outdoors for hours, in a season that is cool, often wet and only rarely freezing. A warm layer under the costume, waterproof shoes and something against the rain matter more than the perfect outfit. YesTrip shows you the forecast for your actual travel days and suggests matching clothes in the packing list.

Weiberfastnacht: the start of the street carnival

On the Thursday before Rose Monday the city stops working at around eleven. The official start is on the Alter Markt in the old town, where the square fills up early. Women traditionally cut off men's ties on this day, and the pubs in the old town, in the Südstadt and in the Belgian Quarter are full from the morning. If you want to be on the Alter Markt itself, come very early; when the old town is full, access is closed for safety reasons and you celebrate in the streets around it.

Rose Monday: the parade and its route

The Rose Monday parade is the highlight. According to the Festkomitee, its head sets off at 10:00 and runs for several hours through the city centre. The route starts in the Severinstraße in the south, continues via Hohe Straße, Schildergasse and Neumarkt to Rudolfplatz and the Hohenzollernring, comes back via the Heumarkt and the Alter Markt, passes the cathedral at Kardinal-Höffner-Platz, Trankgasse and the main station forecourt, and ends near Gregorius-Maurus-Straße.

The best places for a first visit:

• Severinstraße and the Südstadt: the parade passes here first, the mood is local and there is a little more space.
• Ring between Rudolfplatz and Friesenplatz: wide streets, good for groups.
• Around the cathedral and the main station: the most impressive backdrop, but also the most crowded.

Paid grandstand seats exist on parts of the route; the Festkomitee sells them on its website. On the street, the rule is simple: arrive early, stay in one place and bring a bag for the sweets ("Kamelle") thrown from the floats.

Sunday: schools and neighbourhoods

On Sunday 7 February, the Schull- un Veedelszöch move through the city centre from 11:11. School classes and neighbourhood groups walk in costumes they made themselves – less spectacle than on Monday, more inventiveness, and a good choice if you travel with children. In the days before, many districts have their own smaller parades; the session calendar of the Festkomitee lists them.

Getting there and where to stay

From London, Cologne is about an hour and a half by plane; from Cologne Bonn Airport the S-Bahn runs to the main station in around a quarter of an hour. Cologne main station lies right next to the cathedral and is one of the busiest in Germany – on carnival days it is packed, so leave extra time. Long-distance trains are easy to compare at train tickets to Cologne^* (Omio).

If you arrive on Weiberfastnacht and your room is not ready yet, there is luggage storage in Cologne^* (Radical Storage), so you do not carry your bag into the crowd. From outside the EU, a travel eSIM for Germany^* (Airalo) is usually cheaper than roaming; our eSIM price index compares the prices per gigabyte.

Where to stay

• Altstadt and around the cathedral: right at the heart of it, very loud until late, the first rooms to sell out.
• Belgian Quarter and the Ring: lively bars, close to the parade route on the Ring.
• Deutz: across the Rhine, one stop from the main station, usually a little calmer and with views of the cathedral.

Hotels are full on carnival weekend and prices rise; book months ahead, and check whether the room has a minimum stay.

More than carnival

Between the parties, Cologne is worth a look of its own: the cathedral, the Romano-Germanic heritage in the old town, the museums around Roncalliplatz and the brewery pubs with their small glasses of Kölsch. Our three-day plan combines the classics with the old town and the Rhine and can be shifted around the carnival days.

In YesTrip, "What's on" lists festivals, events and holidays on the days of your trip, and you can add them to the day plan with one tap.

If you visit in winter before Christmas, our guide to the Cologne Christmas markets 2026 has the dates, and how many days in Cologne helps you plan the rest of the trip.

Cologne trip planDay by day, with map and tips

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