March's Kaiserslautern in Bloom

During the weekend of March 15 & 16, a business association in Kaiserslautern coordinated "Lautern blüht auf," which means something along the lines of "Kaiserslautern is blooming" or "in bloom." I had gone the year before and wrote about it here. I didn't realize that the event is more than just Sunday shopping.

Primroses were available throughout town but this festival is more about the city waking up after winter. Stores were open on Sunday for the special open Sunday shopping and downtown was packed with shoppers in a celebratory mood. Marching bands provided some musical entertainment. Here's a group dressed like...Renaissance pirates, perhaps?

There was also a car show parking along the main shopping street. Strangely enough, it seemed that most were American muscle cars. Down the road from there, a bouncy house for children was set up. I also heard that there was a petting zoo set up somewhere downtown but I didn't come across it.

This program made for a fun day out on a Sunday, when downtown is usually more deserted because stores are normally closed. It was also a fun way to celebrate the upcoming spring.