The story goes that the previous Mayor of Bonn, Ashok-Alexander Sridharan asked our first to be President Patrick van Weerelt, why the UN staff did not have their own carnival association. From there with the support of the Festauschuss Bonner Karneval, the City of Bonn and with the enthusiasm of interested staff members from the UN and other international organizations in Bonn, the UN Funken was born in January 2017.

The UN Funkens guiding principles are that we contribute to the fostering, maintaining and further developing the carnival custom and its cultural heritage in Bonn through participation in carnival as well as promoting sustainability.

We are represented each year by our figurehead, the UNiversa/o/e. They are elected by the members and their job is to promote the sustainable development goals and the spirit and message of carnival and to represent the UN Funken at events.

Learn more about the UN Funken by listening to the Inside UN Bonn Podcast and check out our Our Story page.

Official business

The UN Funken Carnival Association is a registered association. Our current board members are: President Heidi Nabel-Meyer, Secretary Ute Lange and Treasurer Audrey Ewert.

The UN Funken is a not-for-profit organization and is NOT an official organization of the United Nations. Members of the UN Funken Carnival Association are associated with this group strictly in their personal capacity and do not represent the United Nations in any association related activities undertaken by them.

See our current Statutes in Germanand English for more information.