Mainz carnival start: 100 years of court singers and new train badges!

Mainz carnival start: 100 years of court singers and new train badges!

It's back, the colorful madness of Carnival! Today, November 11th, 2025, the Mainz Court Singers rang in the new campaign at the Carnival Fountain. To mark this festive occasion, the singers, who are celebrating their centenary this year, are looking forward to numerous performances that will take place until Ash Wednesday, February 18th. The men's choir, which emerged from the Mainz Conservatory in 1926, is one of the highlights of the Mainz carnival and is known for hits such as “Such a day, as beautiful as today” and “Olé, olé Fiesta”.

But the festival is not just a musical treat. The new train plaques, which will be sold as part of the Rose Monday procession, were also presented at the start. These badges cost six euros and serve not only as tickets for the big parade, but also as support for the street carnival in Mainz, which costs over a million euros annually. The idea for these train plaques dates back to 1948, when the organizers of the Mainz Catholic Day launched this innovative approach to finance the carnival. The plaques are now available in Mainz.

The big stars of the carnival start

Around 9,000 participants attended the carnival kick-off on Schillerplatz today and celebrated the “Foolish Basic Law” with great enthusiasm. Well-known artists such as the Doppelbock brothers, Die Humbas and Lea Hieronymus swept across the stage and created an atmospheric atmosphere. The Mainz Court Singers had also presented the new motif for their train badge for the 2026 campaign - a homage to their own centenary with the title “The Court Singers in Golden Mainz, number 1 for 100 years”.

To access Schillerplatz, partygoers needed an access permit that cost nine euros. This had to be raffled off to avoid an overflow problem and only those with a ticket were allowed onto the site. However, if you come away empty-handed, you can hope to get hold of remaining tickets at the MCV office if there is still capacity available.

There will be a ban on glass again this year on the event site. Those responsible for the Mainz Carneval Association (MCV) are also planning stricter controls for train participants. This is done for safety reasons after many groups took part in the Rose Monday procession in the past without a valid train sticker. This not only represents a safety problem, but also a financial disadvantage for the carnival.

Carnival – more than just a celebration

The tradition of Carnival is deeply rooted and goes far beyond the Mainz parade in the region. The term “Fastnacht” has its roots in a custom that is also celebrated beyond the borders of Germany, as the Pennsylvania Dutch celebrations on Shrove Tuesday show. Among other things, special donuts, so-called Fasnachts, are prepared there to prepare for Lent. These traditions, in turn, reflect cultural diversity and the different ways in which people celebrate the end of the carnival season.

So Carnival remains a festival that connects people and celebrates joy and passion for customs and traditions. There is great anticipation for the upcoming events in Mainz and the tradition will be kept alive in the coming months.

For more information and backstage insights into Carnival, visit the articles from FAZ and daily news.