Overview
- Cologne’s parade begins at 10:00 from Severinstorburg, with a once-secret persiflage wagon depicting Iran’s Ali Khamenei escorted by police from the depot to the start.
- Düsseldorf plans roughly 11,000 participants and expects hundreds of thousands of spectators, with road closures starting 6:15, a city-center glass ban, and ARD/WDR broadcasts of the procession highlights and full coverage later in the day.
- Float builder Jacques Tilly receives police protection in Düsseldorf following a Russian legal case over his Putin caricatures, with a new provocative wagon anticipated.
- Regional outlets expand access with live streams, including WAZ coverage of four Ruhr parades, as major pre-Rosenmontag events drew large crowds such as Neuss (~100,000 spectators; ~2,800 participants; 40 large floats) and Radeburg (>25,000; ~2,500 participants).
- Forecasts call for rain, gusty winds and possible thunderstorms across the Rhine region, though Cologne organizers say the parade can proceed under a flexible wet-weather plan.