Today, Carnival is an amalgam of all these traditions: it is a joyous street festival in the biting cold of winter ... Rhineland where cities like Cologne, Dusseldorf and Mainz host massive festivals, ...

Large parades in Cologne, Duesseldorf ... float linking Jesus to the church abuse scandal sparked criticism from Germany’s Catholic Church, which called it “tasteless.” ...

The group, whose German-language initials stand for “Cologne ... and March. Carnival, or Carnaval, is a Catholic tradition with pagan roots that grew out of the need to consume winter larders.