This man looks like a figure straight from an Arcimboldo painting…

This was truly an international event.
Visitors included a group of huns…

…and even a squad of imperial military straight from Star Wars.

A glorious winter day provides a good opportunity for the participants to show off their beauty…
Last year’s images:
Wiesbaden: Carnival 2007 - I
Wiesbaden: Carnival 2007 - II
Photos from the Carnival parade 2006
and
http://www.travelphoto.net/a-photo-a-day/wordpress/2006/02/25/carnival-in-wiesbaden/

Some more pictures of the carnival parade in Wiesbaden.

Some pictures from this year’s carnival parade in Wiesbaden.

Merry go round, originally uploaded by laurenz.

Here you see the flags representing the 32 nations participating in the FIFA World Cup 2006.
The photo was taken at the “Theatrium” in Wiesbaden, Germany.

The Theatrium is the street festival of Wiesbaden’s most fashionable street, the Wilhelmstraße.
The name of course is related to the state theatre of Hesse which re-opened in 1977 with a relatively small festival.
Today, there are several music venues, 140 food stalls, lots of street events and many artisans.
This picture was taken at a Brazilian stall where one could buy the cocktails to go with the international speialties sold nearby.

Luminale Wiesbaden, originally uploaded by laurenz.

These are the last minutes of the Luminale for Wiesbaden.
This event took place in most of the Rhein Main area with illuminated buildings and art projects everywhere.
In Wiesbaden, the “Kurpark” was illuminated by many art installations.

Due to bad weather the main carnival event had to be postponed.
So the procession in Santa Cruz took place in the evening which completely changed the atmosphere.
I had the chance to see the other big corso in Puerto de La Cruz today (in broad daylight) - photos from that event later…

Some impressions from the Carnival parade in Wiesbaden:

Even though the big carnival parade in Wiesbaden only takes place tomorrow, there were many international groups to be seen in the city today.
This is a costumed musician from Basle (Switzerland).

a clown selling balloons

Passers-by, originally uploaded by laurenz.

Presumably actors from one of the many theatre performances going on simultaneously in the hundreds of venues.

This is a picture from the 2005 Edinburgh Festival.
Flash photography was explicitly prohobited so I took this shot without flash with my small Lumix FX8.