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Carnival season opens in Cologne with tens of thousands of costumed revellers

Carnival begins every year at 11:11 am on the 11th day of the 11th month. Cologne is the epicentre of the parties in Germany, but other cities like Dusseldorf also erupt into tomfoolery. After November 11, the season percolates for a few months in the more Catholic parts of Germany, culminating in a week of parades and parties before Ash Wednesday in February.

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Their model was the more cultivated Venetian Carnival. The citizens founded a "festive committee" and invented a masked procession, for which they were likely inspired by the Corpus Christi processions of the Catholic Church.