One of the first interesting things I did in Germany was attend a tiny local spring festival. The Fest celebrates the marriage of a local Prince that occurred some couple hundred years ago. Its re-enactment is done tongue-in-cheek, with the largest bulkiest man in the village playing the part of the bride and the smallest man playing the groom. Dozens of floats made by the clubs in the village and nearby villages parade down the street, and then there's a debaucherous mock wedding ceremony, followed by music and the requisite beer drinking all afternoon.

The groom's float parades through, followed by the bride's.

I went to the event with some folks from my Stammtisch group, many of the members of whom are pictured here.
Back row l-r: me (American), Andi (Swiss), Tine (German), Andrea (German), Dan (American), Peter (Slovakian), Ed (American), unk. Front row l-r: unk, Savas (Turkish), Hailey (American), Connie (German), unk.

The parade participants threw hay at the crowd, and sometimes candy to the kids. The crowd responded by throwing snowballs back.

The crowd.

The local Burgermeister and other important folks

Parade

 White washers

The festivities ended in a field where a mock wedding ceremony was performed.