Ramstein village hosts Fasching parade

***image1***The carnival association, Bruchkatze, hosts the Ramstein-Miesenbach Fasching parade Tuesday and town will close down for that afternoon.

Motorists are not allowed through town from noon to 6 p.m. and Bahnhofstrassse is closed until 8 p.m.

The Ramstein-Miesenbach parade is known as the biggest in the Westpfalz area, with more than 1,700 participants.

“We received registrations from more than 17 carnival associations, 22 other groups and seven music bands,” said Hartmut Schäffner, chief of the parade committee. There will be about 20 floats and 40 walking groups.

“We are happy to also have about 150 American participants. There will be the U.S. Air Forces in Europe Band, the Sembach and Ramstein Girl Scouts, the Ramstein High School Step Team and the Deuce Club, sponsored by the 86th Construction and Training Squadron,” Mr. Schäffner added.

Like each year, Ramstein-Miesenbach’s French sister city, Maxéville, will send a float and about 150 particpants.

More than 48,000 promotion items, including candy, will be tossed to 30,000 to 50,000 spectators. About 30 vendors sell parade buttons for €2. The buttons help to finance the parade and serve as entrance tickets to the Haus des Bürgers, where a Fasching party with music and dancing takes place after the parade. Food and beverage booths are placed throughout the 3.25 kilometer route.

The almost two-hour long parade starts at 2:11 p.m. on Stutzenflur and August-Süssdorf-Strasse and goes through Bahnhof, Landstuhler, Kindsbacher, Siedlungs and Lilienstrasse and then back to the beginning.

Residents along the route are asked to decorate their houses to support the celebration.

“We ask parents to watch their kids and, for safety reasons, spectators shouldn’t get too close to the floats,” said Mr. Schäffner.

A Fasching carnival with a merry-go-round and activity booths is set up in front of the Haus des Bürgers from Sunday through Tuesday.