The Berlin Carnival of Cultures

After the centuries of colonization, migration movements al over the world the people of different nations were so mixed that the celebration of their nations’ diversity has become the celebration of the people themselves disregarding to their place of living, social status, political views and background. Berlin is not an exception as it had opened its gates for multi-cultural movements (see immigrants) by the Berlin Wall Fall in 1989.

Immigrants from all over the world flowed to Berlin to find better life and open air of freedom. Of course, the migration process did not succeed in all aspects and the nationalism and racism movements took place to generate the tension within the Berlin society and outside.

The wise decision had been made by the year of 1993 when the Berlin government supported the idea of foundation of ‘ Werkstatt der Kulturen’, the organization which initiated the Berlin diversity celebration and support.

In 1996 the Berlin Werkstatt der Kulturen came to decision to solve immigrants’ problem in the form of international cultures’ parade which was aimed to demonstrate the ethnic richness of the city and support cultural and sub cultural ethnic groups living in Berlin. The support was really useful as many poor artists, performers, dancers and musicians had got the possibility to demonstrate their talents and get a good job.

The 1996 –year parade had a great success among the spectators and media and, therefore, it continued living and became one of the Berlin greatest traditional events. The parade had grown into a carnival which take place annually on Whitsunday (usually in May) in Berlin and gathers millions of spectators and thousands of participants.

Among carnival of cultures participants you can notice the three main groups: culturally diverged groups of professional artists originated from all over the world including Africa and South America; children’s performances; youth groups who are mostly performers of cultural music, such as specially composed BerlinBrasil and Fiesta Latina, and modern music genres such as electronic music. You may also notice that there are many amateurs whose staging on the Berlin street of Kreuzberg district – the symbol of cultural diversity – is the first one. Be open to encourage them and discover their traditions beauty and importance in the modern world of hard work and struggle.

Related links:

Berlin Carnival of Cultures 2005 photos

Berlin carnival of cultures music