Dear people of Wiesbaden,

dear fools and jesters!

"75 years of the umbrella organization Wiesbadener Karneval 1950 e.V." - this is the motto under which the Dacho is celebrating the 2024/2025 carnival season. This is a really special and great anniversary. The "Dachorganisation Wiesbadener Karneval 1950 e.V." emerged from a loose association of the eleven carnival clubs existing in Wiesbaden at the time. The Dacho is made up of 40 associations, guards, clubs and societies with around 15,000 members from Wiesbaden and the surrounding area. Its main task is to organize the large Wiesbaden carnival Sunday procession. Since 1982, there has also been a children's parade on Shrove Saturday.

As always, carnival in Wiesbaden has of course already begun on 11/11. But the highlight comes on the first weekend in March. It starts on Saturday, March 1, with the storming of the Kastel/Kostheim local administration at 11.11 am. The AKK parade begins in Kastel at 1.11 p.m. under the motto "Fastnacht is calling, the mood rises when the jester on the procession shows us the way!"; it ends back in Kostheim. It continues with the children's festival on Schlossplatz and the children's parade. Led by the Wiesbaden Youth Prince and Princess Leonie I and Prince Fynn I, the clubs will parade from Luisenplatz to Schlossplatz from 3.33 pm. Together with the Wiesbaden carnival clubs as well as the children and other participants in the children's procession, the jesters want to take over the keys to the town hall in a coup de main. However, I firmly believe that they will not succeed - we will certainly hide our town hall key, even if we have to reckon with many active foolish fighters who want to take over the reigns of the city administration.

The absolute highlight will be on Shrove Sunday, March 2. From 12.11 pm, the Wiesbaden carnival parade, which is famous far beyond the city's borders, will wind its way through our streets, starting and finishing once again in Friedrich-Ebert-Allee in front of the RheinMain CongressCenter. From there, the parade makes its way through the city center, past the town hall and past thousands of fools at the roadside. As Lord Mayor, I am looking forward to riding on the Dacho float. After the procession has finished its journey, the celebrations in Wiesbaden continue for a long time. On Ash Wednesday, March 5, "it's all over again" and the jesters have to give me back the keys to the town hall.

Maintaining carnival traditions, keeping them alive and developing them further is a time-consuming and not always easy task: I would therefore like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all the volunteers and organizers. Without the many hard-working hands, it simply wouldn't work. They all make an important contribution to the community and our city. Without the voluntary commitment of all those involved in the many carnival clubs - both in front of and behind the scenes - the fifth season would not be what it is: a meeting point for countless enthusiastic fools in Wiesbaden.

I wish everyone a wonderful carnival season and a firework display of good humor. Have fun and enjoy the foolish hustle and bustle!

So get into your costume, get into the Bütt, uff die Gass, Fastnacht in Wiesbaden is simply fun! The music and songs are well-known, everyone sways hand in hand. And now: Very loud and with a roar, a triple thunderous Helau!

Long live carnival, so raise your hands,

I'll see you around, I'm looking forward to it,

Your OB Mende

Gert-Uwe Mende
Lord Mayor