Fastnacht: fun without Gass

Although the street carnival is canceled this year due to corona, the people of Mainz and their guests can look at the associated, albeit not built, motif floats until the end of the "great days".

To be more precise: the templates for it, because the suggestions of the creative group responsible for this fun were ultimately no longer implemented.

All that remained for the Mainz Carneval Association (MCV) from 1838 was to persuade anyone interested to visit the Lulu department store on Ludwigsstrasse to enjoy a 50-metre-long construction site fence gallery.

A total of nine drafts made by the draftsman Michael Apitz can be seen.

The next step in the silly production process, namely making satirical pieces worth seeing with lots of paint and Styrofoam,

Markus Schug

Correspondent Rhein-Main-Süd.

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In the former Karstadt building, which the Boulevard Lu GmbH as the owner has already made available to a number of interim users for unusual and creative projects, on the second floor during the usual opening hours and until March 1st, those who enjoy their greatest pleasure, the " Zuch", brought fools present: With their exhibition "Ausfallen" and their ideas that have become images - for example for a Mainz energy turnaround that can be fueled by hand cheese consumption or for the eternal renovation of the town hall.

And the fact that the "Mainzer farmers", above all their Lord Mayor Michael Ebling (SPD), are now allowed to harvest the "biggest potatoes" thanks to the successful vaccine manufacturer Biontech is also worth mentioning for mocking carnival fans.

The MCV and its President Reinhard Urban have long held on to the idea of ​​at least enabling the usual “fun on the gas” in some form despite the corona pandemic and the Omicron wave.

It was not until the end of January, after a crisis summit with the mayor and head of the regulatory department, Manuela Matz (CDU), that the “great days of 2022” were officially called off.

Reason: The risk of infection is currently significantly higher than when the campaign started well on November 11th.

At that time, at least a few thousand registered visitors were allowed to use the fenced Schillerplatz as a party zone under 2G conditions.

The MCV would have liked to have made a comparable offer to the fools on the carnival weekend, preferably on Ludwigsstraße.

Various online offers

With a view to the current incidences, however, Mayor Ebling still thinks that hundreds, if not thousands, of people can't be brought to the city to celebrate.

It's hard to say what's going to happen in the city between Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, but impromptu parades, outdoor social gatherings and pub visits seem extremely likely.

He could only invite all fools to use the diverse online and streaming offers of the clubs and gardens and "live our customs at least a little bit," said Ebling.

The first events of this kind, whether foolish online wine tasting by the Princess' Guard or the singing competition of the Gonsenheim Carneval Association,

The forthcoming second weekend of February seems to be developing into the main day of the battle for all those who want to at least have some fun in God Jokus' name.

The Mainz Carneval Club, for example, promises a rustic pub carnival to everyone who decides to attend its “Pear Tree Session” this Saturday evening at 7:33 p.m.

As a precaution, the fool's game, which can be followed online for eleven euros, was recorded in the airy Great Hall of the Electoral Palace.

New territory is also entered by those who check in at the Hyatt Regency Hotel at the Winterhafen on Saturday: in a small group of six to ten people and from one of the suites specially made available for this purpose, the “window session”, which will be presented there for the first time from 6:11 p.m. of the Kastel Carnival Club.

Depending on the equipment and size of the selected box, room tickets could be purchased at prices from 111 to 333 euros.

Anyone who is satisfied with standing room and looking at the open-air stage on the Rhine promenade can get there for eleven euros;

plus the cost of food and drink served by hotel staff.

What else is available online until Shrove Tuesday in the stronghold of fools can be found on the Internet at

and on the website of the Fastnachtsgenossenschaft at

.

The city has long been flagged with four colors and can offer all interested parties at least the traditional carnival posse of the MCV as a live experience in the state theater: "Die lustische Weiber 2.0" deals in seven performances not least with the question: "Can we come together again?" More information can be found at

Admission is free, so to speak, if you disregard the broadcasting fee, the TV session “Mainz stays Mainz” put together by Second German Television can also be watched on Shrove Friday.

With only three hours of programming, i.e. shorter than usual, the show, which will be broadcast from 8.15 p.m., will be in the “classic meeting format”: with many familiar faces from the pre-Corona period.

Since you can hardly get tickets for the coveted fool's game in the Electoral Palace even at normal times, it's actually the same as always: the self-catering spectator can enjoy the spectacle from the sofa at home - also unmasked.