Cologne Carnival (Karneval)

Cologne calls Carnival its 'fifth season,' and the city genuinely transforms for it - costumed crowds fill every bar and square for a week, building to Rose Monday, when enormous satirical floats poke fun at politicians and world events while tons of candy and flowers rain down on the crowd. It's silly, cutting, and completely embraced by a city that otherwise runs like clockwork the other eleven months of the year.