The 11th hour of the 11th day....

Today the madness begins - crazed clowns, drunken ducks, squiffy sailors - they'll all be out in force today, and indeed for the next five days in a row. As a non-German Rhineland resident it can be a little hard to dig up the enthusiasm for carnival year after year - so instead you have to look for the highlights to get you through the "funf tollen Tage".  One such highlight is the "Tuntenlauf" in Düsseldorf. It takes place on Saturday at 5pm on the Königsallee.  It's a catwalk show for drag queens and the most outrageous costume and performance can win a prize of €111.11 and the venerable title of "Düsseldorfs Supertunte".  There is a €1 entry fee and all money raised goes to the AIDS-Hilfe charity.  Another carnival highlight - if you're not into schunkelling at a sitzungen with a bunch of grey haired revellers - is the Geisterzug.  A carnival procession that runs through the streets of Cologne under cover of darkness.  Often accompanied by drummers and musicians the Geisterzug starts at Alterberg on the Bayenthalgürtel - there was supposed to be a pre-Geisterzug party - but it had to be cancelled due to the weather and the "glas verbot" at this year's carnival. Alaaf - Helau – and good luck.