Schützenfest

Schützenfest means shooting festivals in English and it kicks off with members of a shooting fraternity shooting at a wooden bird. Whoever shoots it, along with his missus, is crowned Schützenkönigspaar. The largest in Germany (probably the world, actually) are Hannover and Neuss. If you really want to experience Schützenfest, go to one of those two. For these big ones, it is not quite as simple as shooting a bird to become Schützenkönig. It is a very expensive honour, having to pay for your costumes, various banquetts and soforth. A potential König has to prove in advance that he can afford the honour. It costs well over €20k, apparently.