Carnival is not just entertainment, as Circus a.s.o. These are the days, where in Christian culture differences between people should vanish, and this was celebrated. E.g. Cologne, ca. 1 Mio residents, is the stronghold of carnival in DE. Carnival there is popular since medieval times. Carnival events start at Nov/11th at 11:11 h. On the hay market (Heumarkt) in Cologne they count down on a stage, lots of musicians performe in front of a big audience of masked people.
From that day on each evening in dozens of venues sessions with music, dance and funny acts are starting, culminating in the last days from wifes shrovenight (thursday, Weiber-Fastnacht) over the big shrove monday procession to mardi gras (tuesday). These "crazy days" nearly the whole town is masquerading.
main railway station:
https://www.ksta.de/image/25936998/...2264/Rn/bahnsteige20170223max-weiberhbf27.jpg
hay market:
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/g1I74hWVXWg/maxresdefault.jpg
A former colleague took since 20 years vacation for this time, and goes with his wife for 6 days, from procession to procession, pub to pub and event to event.
As my colleagues from Cologne say: You love it, or you leave it. On ash wednesday all is over, starting again on 11/11 at 11:11 h.
So I present a song from Blaeck Fooeess (pron. black fu(r)se, "nude feet") from Cologne. The 7 boys started in the 60s, first trying to play like Beatles/Stones and had been the warm-up act for British singer Graham Bonney, who 1970 asked, why they don't sing in German? So parallel they started making music for the Carnival season becoming extraordinarily successful. In the 1980s even some songs Germany wide became hits.
Their engagement and songs had a big impact: pushing social and political processes, maintaining the Cologne dialect, inspiring many other bands, and a fab career over 50 yrs. Nearly everybody in Cologne can sing with them. They have an own section in the Cologne city museum, an own truck on the carnival procession and they even got for their 50th jubilee a decorated tramway, all over covered with their songs.
https://media.tag24.de/951x634/c/e/ce5d9993dbd660cc5a69.jpg
Here's my translation of one of their big songs: Bye Bye My Love, ironically speaking acquaintance in Carnival times. Pls have a look at this song for the 40th jubilee 2010 in front of Colognes cathedral, incl. big band and a big choir:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA0mIZRkvCA