COLOGNE 2007

(15 -  20 February)

written by Campbell de Burgh with photos by LA(Phot) Wheelie A'Barrow

This year the RNPS were offered 15 places with the Volunteer Bands help form a massed band with a large pipes and drums section.  Lieutenant Commander Ian Kempsell was pipe major for the event and David Robinson from the Rose and Thistle Band was the leading tip. We were joined in Cologne by Achim Stump, now a "friend" of the Society.  As usual we arrived before the main carnival event to do a German World Radio broadcast and to accompany the Domstadter Band as they toured the city's Carnival Society events on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings.  Typical evening venues are shown below:

Saturday was again a chance to take things a bit easy and an opportunity to briefly see a bit of Cologne.  This time though we were billeted in a police training establishment some 45 minutes out of Cologne and few made it in.  Others enjoyed the local village cafe or simply chilled.

The main event is of course the Rosenmontag parade - a 4 hour march winding around the city centre to streets lined by about 1.5 million people. This is a massive event and involves arriving at the muster point in the city by 1000 to step off at 1200.  We played sets alternately with the Volunteer Band and this time it seemed a little shorter with less stopping and starting.  

though when we did stop it was an opportunity to let the children into the secret of the pipes

Cologne Carnival and the Rosenmontag parade is always a tremendous experience for all, including those that have done it many times before. The benefit is difficult to measure and impossible to quantify in terms other than the camaraderie that develops within the Volunteer Band incorporating the RNPS and amidst the hospitality of our Domstadter and other Cologne hosts. The reception from the crowd is probably the best guide, and as always that was a roar of approval and delight to the sound of the whole band  - viva Colognia!

Our bandmaster - C/Sgt Dave Wright, HMS Heron VBI

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