Frankly ... Berlin  Carnival of Diversity

Pentecost is carnival time in Berlin! Whoops, not exactly... For the third time in a row, the Karneval der Kulturen 2022 – the Carnival of Cultures – has been called off. Our columnist Marie Leão explains how the Carnival has helped revive the German capital’s long-lost cosmopolitan side.

Revellers from over 180 nations are dying to relive the Carnival of Cultures (Karneval der Kulturen, KdK for short). I’ve taken part in every edition to date, whether performing music on one of the stages or in the Sunday parade itself or DJing at one of the many marvellous parties during these four days of transcultural euphoria every year on Whit weekend.

I still remember the very first Carnival of Cultures, which was held in 1996 in Kreuzberg and put together by the Werkstatt der Kulturen – now it’s organized by Piranha Arts. I’d just moved to Berlin at the time and was already drumming in Borboleta, a small samba school that later gave rise to the famous Sapucaiu no Samba, five-time winner of the Sunday parade contest and one of the biggest and best samba groups in Europe. I was standing among the crowd of drummers when I suddenly found myself facing the bassist in As Mercenárias, the legendary post-punk women's band from São Paulo – I was a big fan of theirs in the 1980s. That was the beginning of a musical and personal friendship that has endured to this day. Post-punk meets samba: the Carnival of Cultures has always been a carnival of diversity – that was the whole idea from the get-go.

When I first came to Berlin in 1995, the capital, which had been a very cosmopolitan city before World War II, was very... German. I occasionally tried to communicate with people in the street, but hardly anyone spoke English. I had the impression that foreigners like me (no one used the term “migrants” back then) inhabited their own national bubble and didn't interact much with Germans. What’s more, people from the Global South were exoticized, pigeonholed and reduced to their origins even more than they are today. When someone asked me about my accent or where I was from, 99 per cent of the time their reaction was something like, “Oooh, Brazil! Saaammmbaaa!” or even: “What?! Brazil?! You're way too white to be Brazilian!” It was no use explaining that, after the US, Brazil is the country with the second largest ethnic German population outside Germany, that it’s a multi-ethnic country... So I eventually got fed up and would simply reply, “I'm from Mars. How about you?” Cultural bridges were few and far between back in the day. 

Diverse Languages, Foods, Dances and Music Styles

The KdK was revolutionary insofar as it brought together people from so many different cultures all over the world and finally made their voices heard, at least for a few days. Germans, immigrants and people with an immigrant background formed friendships and partnerships. The success was tremendous. The first edition of the Carnival of Cultures drew a crowd of 50,000, but later, from 2010 on, more than a million revellers of all ages, colours and creeds turned out to party together. With its annual street party and parade, the KdK has become a highlight for Berlin’s tourists and has helped the city reclaim its cosmopolitan flair. Nowadays, in certain parts of town, you can hear languages from all over the world, which give rise to an almost melodious babel of tongues. Though it may be sheer coincidence, it makes perfect sense to me that this event is always held at Pentecost, the High Holy Day commemorating the moment when, according to Christian belief, tongues of fire hovered over Christ's disciples, who then began “speaking in tongues”, in all the world’s languages.

We can only hope the coronavirus doesn’t spread again this winter. You can’t throw together a carnival overnight, it actually takes a whole year’s work. I miss the caipirinhas at the Dadá stand, the concerts featuring bands and grooves from all over the world, the plant auction at the  Blücherplatz, the kaleidoscope of flavours to discover at the food stands, and of course the procession itself. I have often marched along for hours in a state of great elation, with aching feet and blisters on my fingers from all that drumming – but positively bursting with adrenaline. So come, Carnival of Cultures! Come back next year, OK? Promise?
 

June 2022