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Popular festival · Binche
The Binche carnival, in the province of Hainaut, culminates on Shrove Tuesday with the Gilles, figures wearing wax masks and ostrich-feather hats who dance through the streets to the sound of drums and throw oranges to the crowd.
In the photo: Binche
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
Click a photo to enlarge it.
Binche Carnival — Binche
From Carnival Sunday to Shrove Tuesday, the three days before Ash Wednesday, in February or March depending on the date of Easter.
February/March
Dates change every year: check this year's date before you travel.
The festival
Binche is a small town in Hainaut, south of Brussels, that spends the whole year preparing its carnival. The festival lasts the three days before Ash Wednesday and is recognized by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage of humanity, proclaimed in 2003 and included on the Representative List in 2008.
The oldest references to the Binche carnival date back to the late Middle Ages. A legend links the Gilles’ costumes to festivities offered by Mary of Hungary to Emperor Charles V in 1549, but historians note that the town had been celebrating the start of Lent long before that. In the weeks beforehand there are drum rehearsals in the streets and the night of the Trouilles de Nouilles, when much of the town goes out masked.
Fat Sunday brings together costumed groups, including the Mam’selles, men dressed in extravagant women’s clothing. Monday is the day for children and fancy dress groups. On Shrove Tuesday, from dawn, the Gilles are fetched from their homes and parade through the streets wearing a padded jute blouse stuffed with straw in the colors of the Belgian flag, clogs, bells and the wax mask. In the afternoon they swap the mask for the large ostrich-feather hat and march to the Grand-Place, throwing oranges to spectators.
The Gilles’ dance, slow and marked by drums and wind instruments, follows a ritual passed from father to son in local societies. The day ends with the final rondeau on the Grand-Place and fireworks. For visitors, it is a chance to see a carnival that has changed little in centuries and that the town lives as a rite rather than as a show.
The departure of the Gilles wearing wax masks on Shrove Tuesday morning. The afternoon procession with the feathered hats and the throwing of oranges. The final rondeau on the Grand-Place and the fireworks at dusk. On Sunday, the Mam’selles and the costumed groups.
Shrove Tuesday is the main day; arrive early to follow the Gilles from the start. There is a train connection between Brussels and Binche, and extra trains usually run on the day of the festival; the centre is closed to cars. Wear comfortable clothes and shoes to stand for many hours in the February or March cold. An orange thrown by the Gilles is received as a sign of luck; you should not throw it back.
Binche has limited accommodation; many visitors stay in Mons, Charleroi or Brussels and take the train on the day. Book in advance if you want to sleep nearby. Check the official programme and the extra train timetables before travelling.
In the city
February/March
February/MarchFrom Saturday to midnight on Fat Tuesday, before the start of Lent, in February or March, depending on the date of Easter.
The Cwarmê is Malmedy’s carnival, in the Ardennes: four days when masked figures such as the Haguètes take to the streets, everything is spoken and sung in Walloon, up to the burning of the Haguète on the final night.
March/AprilOn Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent, three weeks before Easter, in March or early April; from Saturday to Monday.
Three weeks before Easter, Stavelot celebrates Laetare with the Blancs Moussis, figures dressed in white with long red-nosed masks who go through the town throwing confetti at the crowd.
Your questions
On the three days before Ash Wednesday, from Sunday to Shrove Tuesday, in February or March. The main day is Shrove Tuesday.
They are the central characters of the carnival: men wearing a padded blouse in Belgium’s colours, clogs, bells and a wax mask, who in the afternoon wear a large ostrich-feather hat and dance to the sound of drums.
Throwing oranges is part of the ritual of the afternoon procession on Shrove Tuesday and is received by the public as a sign of luck.
Festivals and events in Belgium
May/JuneOn the weekend of the Holy Trinity, the Sunday after Pentecost, between May and June, depending on the date of Easter.
On Trinity weekend, Mons carries the relic of Saint Waltrude on a gilded carriage through the streets and stages the Lumeçon, Saint George’s fight with the dragon, on the Grand-Place.
MayEvery three years, on the second Sunday in May. · Every three years
Every three years, on the second Sunday in May, Ypres celebrates cats with the Kattenstoet, a parade of floats, giants and costumes that culminates with the town jester throwing stuffed cats from the Lakenhalle bell tower.
May/JuneOn Ascension Day, a Thursday forty days after Easter, in May or early June.
On Ascension Day, the relic of the Holy Blood is carried out of the basilica on Burg Square and processes through Bruges’ medieval centre in a parade with biblical scenes, singing, music and horses, an intangible UNESCO heritage event.
June/JulyOver two nights between late June and early July.
On two early-summer nights, the Ommegang brings hundreds of participants in 16th-century costumes from the Sablon to Brussels’ Grand-Place, recreating the celebration held for Emperor Charles V in 1549.
June/JulyFor four days, from Thursday to Sunday, on the weekend that closes June or opens July.
Rock Werchter brings together rock, pop, indie and electronic music over four days at Festivalpark in Werchter, in the municipality of Rotselaar, near Leuven, at the start of summer.
JulyIn July, usually in the second half of the month, over several days depending on each edition's format.
The Francofolies de Spa take over the center of the spa town in July, with francophone music concerts on outdoor stages in the Parc de Sept Heures and in venues such as the Casino.