Cologne Carnival 2026 - THU 12 Feb -> TUE 17 Feb

Party with us and our (up to 9) CS'ers Carnival in Cologne - same procedure as every year 😉 　 　 PROLOGUE: ***** . WE WILL NOT HELP YOU IF YOU CAN HELP YOURSELF!!! . ***** SO, PLEASE (!), READ THIS!!! BETTER EVEN: PRINT IT ALL OUT OR HAVE IT (SAVED OFFLINE!) ON YOUR PHONE! ALSO THE OTHER EVENT PAGES (scroll ALL THE WAY down to " H: . . ALL THE MAIN LINKS" for the complete list!) FOR THE SPECIFIC MEETINGS YOU'D LIKE TO JOIN US FOR!!! 　 I . . - . . WE WILL NOT HELP YOU!!! Our CS events will begin on Thursday 12 Feb and last till Tuesday, 17 Feb 2026. ANYONE WHO DARES TO CALL OR TEXT US - before and especially during the event(s) - to bother us with questions that have already been answered here on this or any of the other EVENT PAGES WILL GET NO MORE HELP FROM US than the advice to check out these pages OR once you've met anyone of us in person or are already in contact with one of us, you can ask for other ways to stay in touch with us!! You'll find mobile internet access to get this information at free hotspots provided by NetCologne (covering most of the inner city UP TO OUR FLAT and also incl. most of the inner metro net) - and otherwise at the usual places like Starbucks, McDonald's etc.!!! HOWEVER: DO NOT HESITATE to contact us about anything that has NOT been answered on the event pages; google maps or posts/comments etc. (DO READ THE PART ABOUT "C: COMMUNICATIONS" BELOW!)! 　 II . . - . . HELP YOURSELF! Below you'll find a LOT OF INFORMATION - WAY TOO MUCH, you might think. HOWEVER: I've organized quite a few CS events including several for festivals like this before (Carnival, Oktoberfest, World Cup...) - and all of the information below is the result of THINGS THAT WENT BADLY WRONG in the past and then resulted in lots of EXTRA WORK FOR ME to help my surfers. So we don't wanna hear complaints about that this is too much information - it's based on the experiences I've made in the last 20 years, the questions others have asked and the errors I or others have already made! Also we actually already HAVE helped you by putting together all information that you could possibly need. If you feel that READING ALL THAT IS TOO MUCH EFFORT for you then bear in mind that writing (and annually updating) all of it is quite some effort for us, too... AT THE VERY LEAST read the - any of the EVENT PAGES for the day or event you plan to join us for (so that you know how and where to meet us!) - AND use the google MAPS that we've put together (see below!)! 　 III . . - . . ALL YOU NEED IS MAPS On the EVENT PAGES you'll find many links to google maps. For each single one we chose very carefully the zoom-in and/or street view point and direction and/or where we put the marker(s) and/or which way/directions we have already put in. Especially when pointing out to meeting points on squares and such, they're almost always exactly spot on! AND we put together a google maps with all locations in: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=198FRmLD_f1L8BPVxxBRzUa20kw5wWDd8&usp=sharing We would STRONGLY RECOMMEND saving that google maps on your phone AND DOWNLOADING the map of Cologne within google maps to have that offline on your phone! If you'll have no or only limited mobile internet access then read this for how to download maps with google maps to have them available when you're offline: https://support.google.com/gmm/answer/6291838?hl=en ALSO (e.g. to save on phone battery...) you can still get yourself a "traditional" paper map from one the tourist information office ( https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZUXEExtBRJZq6X5t8 ) including a map of all the metro/tram lines. Or download one of the pdf's from Cologne's public transport company KVB: https://www.kvb.koeln/fahrtinfo/liniennetzplaene.html - AND MAYBE the "KVB-App" for schedule inquiries AND ALSO BUYING TICKETS!!! Though Deutsche Bahn's "DB Navigator" app offers that as well! 　 MIND THOUGH THAT CARNIVAL IS CHAOTIC - and we might be forced to change plans last minute at any time!!!