Review 2024: Members of the group "Artistania" carry a huge, colorfully painted figure during the parade for the 26th Carnival of Cultures.
© dpa
Hundreds of thousands are once again expected to attend this year's Karneval der Kulturen (Carnival of Cultures). Road users must expect restrictions in Kreuzberg from Thursday.
The festival begins on Friday (June 6) and lasts until Whit Monday (June 9). The traditional parade takes place on Whit Sunday. There is also a children's Carnival of Cultures on Saturday. The children's parade starts at Mariannenplatz and ends with a colorful family festival in Görlitzer Park.
As always, the four-day city festival from June 6 to 9 will take place in Kreuzberg around Blücherplatz. This year, the parade, which is considered the highlight of the festival, will move to Frankfurter Allee in Friedrichshain. It is an opportunity to "bring new images to the imposing street", said Anna-Maria Seifert, co-director of the Carnival of Cultures, to the German Press Agency. The move to East Berlin is not entirely voluntary: due to a major construction site in Gneisenaustraße - the original route - the Carnival of Cultures was forced to find another location for the parade.
On Saturday, the children's carnival parade will take place from Mariannenplatz to Görlitzer Park. The route will be closed between 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. Mariannenstraße, Rio-Reiser-Platz, Oranienstraße and Wiener Straße will be affected. From 8 a.m. on Saturday, Karl-Marx-Allee will be restricted to two lanes in the city center near the former Kosmos cinema. The big carnival parade will follow on Whit Sunday. For this, Frankfurter Allee - Karl-Marx-Allee will be closed in both directions between the Möllendorffstraße/Gürtelstraße junction and Straße der Pariser Kommune from 8 a.m. From 9 a.m., the closure of Karl-Marx-Allee will be extended to the Otto-Braun-Straße/Alexanderstraße junction. The road closures are due to be lifted again early Monday morning.
The Berlin Traffic Information Center (VIZ) strongly recommends that drivers avoid the area around Blücherplatz. Anyone wishing to visit the carnival should travel by bike or public transport. There is hardly any parking available for cars.