Belgian festivals in 2009
The Sunday before Shrove Tuesday (22nd Feb, 2009)
Cwarme, in Malmedy. The Haguete, covered by masks, wander around with hapes-tchar (implements designed to feed lepers), immobilise bystanders and force them to their knee…
The festival of Cwarmé in Malmedy has been going on for at least 500 years, on the Sunday before Shrove Tuesday every year. It is simply delightful, a pure expression of the community, a fusion between French, Walloon and German culture. In this par…
The Children's Carnival is held on the Saturday before Shrove Tuesday in Villers la Ville, in Walloon Brabant. The main Carnival is on the day after, with the Saturday being only for the children. It is a small and simple affair, with a temporary hal…
The finale of the carnival at Binche is on Shrove Tuesday, starting at around 4pm and lasting for nearly two hours. It is a simple train ride to and from Binche if you are anywhere in Belgium, although the trains leaving straight after the parade wil…
Laetare is held in Stavelot on the fourth Sunday in Lent (22nd of March in 2009). It is a huge festival in a tiny town - a quarter of the population is in the parade. Most of the parade is what you would expect in a parade - themed floats and marchin…
Paasfeesten Leuven runs over the Easter weekend every year in Leuven. It is a Folklore festival, and each year different countries participate. This year Spain, Germany, Portugal and Serbia were the guests.
By chance we noticed the parade down Die…
Floralien, Lente in Groot-Bijgaarden (Spring in the Great Botanic Gardens), is a annual flower show in Brussels. The show includes over a million bulbs, set among the superb surroundings of a 17th-century castle and manor house. The grounds are well …
It is the year of the comic strip in Brussels and the comic strip festival is on. They have downloadable tours of the public comic strip art that litters Brussels, a few special exhibits at various museums that lean towards comic art and this weekend…
Second Sunday in May every year in Ypres is the Kattenbelletje. Once every three years, the festival coincides with Kattenstoet, the Cat Parade.
The day starts at 3pm, with the Cat Parade. The Cat Parade is themed, with a Welcome to Ypres, Cats T…
Namur En Mai is a festival of arts held over a long weekend every year in Namur. It got a good write-up in the Thalys travel magazine and we had a public holiday so we thought we would go there and check it out. The city was full of people milling ar…
Zuidfoor / La Foire du Midi is a fun fair that is being held by the international train station in Brussels (Brussel Zuid / Bruxelles Midi).
The fun fair is taking up the ring road from Anderlecht to Hallepoort, running past the train station, gi…
The plantation of the Meyboom has occurred on the 9th of August ever year on the corner of the Rue du Marais and the Rue des Sables for over 700 years, since 1308.
There are many different variants of the folklore behind the event. This is one ve…
La Ducasse d'Ath is a world heritage listed festival that is held every year in Ath on the fourth Sunday of August (but the most interesting events are on the Saturday before). The festival has been going on since at least 1399 but has been heavily m…
Chapitre du Tournoi is held on the first Saturday of September each year. For the day, the Fraternity of the Quarteniers de la Flamiche of Dinant holds a pie-eating competition, with the regional speciality quiche "Flaminche Dinantaise". The legend t…
The Fight for the Golden Stilt has been held in Namur each year since at least 1411. The battle is held between the Melans (with yellow and black stilts) and the Averesses (with red and white stilts). It is not just an ancient tradition, it is a ser…
Hasselt is one of the historic and modern centres of Jenever. Although often called "a type of Gin", more correctly gin is one form of Jenever, taken by Flemish immigrants to England. In the homeland, hundreds of different spirits are made from the j…
The Winter Markets have opened up in Brussels. We spent a delightful afternoon wandering through them. There are tiny stalls selling Belgian delicacies, from mulled wine and jenever through to green pudding (pig lymph congealed into sausages and stai… This review was featured on Tuesday December 1st, 2009
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