Since I visited the Bremer Freimarkt for the first time last week, I also didn’t want to miss out on the highlight of the whole Freimarkt — the parade!  And even if I hadn’t been in the mood for a parade, my current apartment is near the parade’s staging area, so I would have been bombarded with marching bands and loud Schlager music all morning anyway.  So if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, right?

Besides being a nice opportunity for adults to drink beer and swallow jello shots at 10:30 on a Saturday morning, the kids were out in full force with bags in hand to collect candy that was thrown everywhere from all of the passing parade floats.  I seriously had to duck more than once to avoid being pelted in the face with Süßigkeiten.  Some kids ended up with mighty impressive hauls, I have to say.

There were marching bands and floats from clubs and towns and businesses all over Germany.  From Bremen’s English Speaking Club to Airbus to Sparkasse Bank to Berlin’s Flag Twirling Team.  Who knew this was such a thing?

I still find Germany’s parades a little bit more chaotic and drunken than the ones I’m used to in the States, but I continue to be impressed by their enthusiasm for costumes, candy throwing, booze, and loud music.  Not a bad way to kick off a Saturday!

How was your weekend?  Are you a fan of parades, German or otherwise?

Apparently I’ve been to more than a few parades in Deutschland over the years:

• Hamburg | Schlagermove
• Berlin | Karneval der Kulturen