Carnival in Berlin: Do Take Candy From These Strangers

Wear a warm costume. Carnival in Berlin takes place February 12, 2012.

Then again, you may warm up from friction as you rub up against spectators and participants. Organizers are expecting more than 1 million spectators and participants at the 11th annual Berlin Carnival Costume Parade. (Break out your German dictionary for this site.)

According to Berlin Tourism:

With an expected 3,000 participants in 100 groups, 60 floats, and numerous marching bands, the frolicsome parade will start at 11:11 am, and move through the Western center of the German capital. More than 600,000 spectators, most of them in colorful costumes, line the streets every year to watch the parade and collect sweets.

Yep, that’s right. Spectators yearn to receive candy from strangers wearing very odd, sometimes disturbing costumes. It’s just little hard-candy sweets but, like those plastic beads in New Orleans, somehow they’re worth much more when received from wild revelers marching along the street.