Carnival of the Cultures Berlin

Colourful robes, rhythmic sounds and a joyful audience. This is how multiculturalism looks like in Kreuzberg, a part of Germany’s capital. At least, that’s the impression that nearly 1.3 million of visitors of “Carnival of the Cultures” get once a year.

The festival takes place since nearly twenty years now at Whitsun, which is a Christian holiday.  The original intention of “Carnival of the Cultures” was to reduce the tensions between different nationalities in the 90’s. Kreuzberg is known for its high percentage of immigrants. Foreign people make out about one third of the quarter’s population. Whereas multiculturalism leads to conflicts in many other parts of Germany and Europe, the festival
demonstrates how inspiring the clash of different cultures can be.

The highlight of the four days, during which the festival takes place, is a parade on Sunday. 50 different groups represent their culture with costumes and music from their hometown. The acts aim to make the audience more open-minded for foreign cultures and traditions. Regarding this vision, the festival is a real success. “I’m very impressed. The festival doesn’t just represent a few countries but one can experience a wide spectrum of different cultures”, describes a woman at the parade. But it is not as easy as it appears to make such a unique event happen: As “Carnival of the Cultures” wants to be free for all the visitors, many sponsors are needed. Because the main sponsor quit its support this year, it was insecure whether the festival would take place for a long time. Luckily, there are enough people that encourage making it happen.


Despite a wide spectrum of cultural representation, there are also many different arts and opinions represented. For example, the organisation “Viva con agua” is a part of the festival since many years. With cultural engagement, the NGO wants to make people sensitive for the humanity’s need of drinking water. There is also a stand about vegan food as and an act in the parade about an organisation that helps refugees that come to Berlin. When walking through Kreuzberg, one gets the impression that everybody seems to be involved in the festival. Inhabitants open their windows and play music for those who walk along the street and take a look at the spectacle.

The migration appears to be easy in Kreuzberg as opposed to other parts of the world. While politicians of the EU discuss about how to deal with the refugees and many people are deported from one country to another one, Kreuzberg seems to be contrary. It has developed into one of the most popular and modern parts of Berlin. So why is it so difficult in many regions to deal with cultural diversity? They should do the same as “Carnival of the Cultures” and simply make a big celebration out of it.

Judith Stein

 

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