"Lachende PÄNZarena" 2025

In the organizer's words:

The 2024/25 carnival season casts its shadow ahead - and how! The "Laughing Cologne Sports Hall"/"Laughing Cologne Arena" will celebrate its proud 60th anniversary next year and will be held in the LANXESS arena for the 25th time. The schedule again includes 15 editions from the end of January to the big carnival weekend at the beginning of March. As if that wasn't enough, the organizers, guest director Otto Hofner and the LANXESS arena, are now announcing a small revolution: In 2025, for the first time since its introduction in 2017, there will be TWO editions of the "Laughing PÄNZarena" - the jecken Kids version .In addition to the already known date on 08.02.2025, thousands of young revellers will also celebrate the fifth season in Germany's largest event arena on 01.02.2025.

In2017, guest show director Otto Hofner expanded its carnival portfolio in the LANXESS arena to include the "Lachende PÄNZarena", where the youngest fans of the fifth season in particular can celebrate with all the greats of Cologne carnival. The children's version of the legendary "Laughing Cologne Arena" has already attracted 10,000 enthusiastic youngsters to Cologne-Deutz several times in the past and was therefore a sell-out. Next year, the logical consequence of this success will be a second ".. . PÄNZarena" !

Arena Managing Director Stefan Löcher is euphoric about the fifth season: "Session 24/25 will be historic in the LANXESS arena! For the first time, the Pänz will be able to celebrate carnival twice in our arena. In the eighth year after its premiere, this is the logical next step for this great children's format. We are also looking forward to 15 dates of the "Laughing Cologne Arena" again and to "Elfter im Elften - immer wieder kölsche Lieder" to kick things off in November. My thanks go to our long-standing partner and co-organizer, the Otto Hofner guest performance management. We can hardly wait to turn the arena into a carnival temple for young and old, for young and old, for all the people of Cologne!"

The managing partners of Gastspieldirektion Otto Hofner, Nathalie Drmota and Michael Burgmer, are full of anticipation for the coming session: "We are eagerly looking forward to our upcoming anniversary season and are unspeakably proud to be able to offer a second edition of the "Lachende PÄNZarena" in 2025. The fact that this "baby" has developed so brilliantly over the past eight years is confirmation that children need a platform to be introduced to the carnival tradition at an early age. The first "Laughing Cologne Sports Hall" took place in 1965 in the old sports hall, and since 1999 as the "Laughing Cologne Arena" in the LANXESS arena - now with 15 annual dates. We are looking forward to the anniversary year and two editions of the " Lachende PÄNZarena" with the usual great program. We would also like to express our gratitude for the friendly, decades-long partnership, which has now grown into a new event duo."