The Cologne carnival is a carnival that takes place in Cologne, Germany every year starting at 11:11 on November 11 culminating in a week-long street festival leaing up to Ash Wednesday. The eleventh of November constitutes a single day of celebration, and the immediate lead-up to Ash Wednesday several more. The highlight of the carnival is the Rosenmontag which takes place on the Monday. The typical cry during the festival is "Kölle Alaaf!", a Kölsch phrase which can be roughly translated as "Long live Cologne!"