A 'Foolish' Day in Germany

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Panorama Pretty Picture Windows in Buhl

It seems that this year Buhl is the city to host the annual Fool Festival. 8000 fools from all over southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland have gathered in this small city to participate in a parade that shows off their foolishness. I've modified and commented on an article with translation online to announce this festival. It goes something like this...

'With 33 clubs of fools, Bühl .. is one of the strongholds.' I've been here for almost 3 months and didn't see any of them out in public. I've been looking for these kinds of people all this time. They may have been in hiding until they could legitimately come out, as it were.

'From 4-6 February... all records will be broken in the Plum City.' What kind of records do fools aim for?

'Bühl will host an international meeting of fools. Under the title "Baden-Württemberg foolish - Carnival is culture" around 8,000 jesters and fools will come together in Buhl, to celebrate. What on earth are they celebrating?

'And the climax, the parade on Sunday afternoon expects 6000 participants. That's a lot of fools in one place!

'Weather permitting, the streets should be lined with tens of thousands of visitors who will experience the unusual event where Swabian, Alemannic and European Fools will form a parade.' I was there, it was a beautiful day for fools to be out in the sunshine. Maybe they've been lacking that all important Vitamin D throughout winter.

'The international move will be broadcast live over three hours from the SWR television. On the edge of the seat stuff!

'The major international meeting on 4 to 6 February in Bühl will be a reflection of different foolish cultures.' Where do I sign up?

Quite honestly though, it was a great day to come out and meet friends in the crowd, check out the costumes and colours, and laugh at the craziness of it all. Andi and I had already been out for a long walk during the day. I could tell by the look on his face that he really didn't want to be there but I am glad he decided to go with me. I suppose if we were there earlier we could have seen more. My camera battery ran out of juice after only a few photos but you'll get the idea of the parade anyway.

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Photos

Fools parade - Buhl
- a kidnapping in action. The fools find someone to wrap up in toilet paper (i think) and take them away.

Swan on a lake...who would have thought it?
From the walk the same morning