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Popular festival · Malmedy
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.
In the photo: Malmedy
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.
Cwarmê of Malmedy — Malmedy
From Saturday to midnight on Fat Tuesday, before the start of Lent, 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
The Cwarmê is Malmedy’s carnival and takes place over the four last days before Lent, from Saturday until midnight on Fat Tuesday. Locals call these days the Grandès Haguètes, in contrast to the P'titès Haguètes, the four preceding Thursdays when masked groups go through the bars. The Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles has recognized Malmedy’s carnival as intangible cultural heritage.
What makes the Cwarmê distinctive is the language: during the carnival everything is said and sung in Walloon, including the opening ceremony. On Saturday the Trouv'lê, the character who opens the festivities, receives the city’s powers and enters the streets to the sound of the march that bears his name.
On Sunday afternoon the great procession takes place, with carnival societies and hundreds of masked participants in traditional roles. The best known are the Haguètes, dressed in ornate velvet with feathered hats, who grab spectators by the ankle with a long wooden clamp, the hape-tchâr, until they kneel and ask forgiveness in Walloon. There are also the Longs Nés, with long noses, and other figures that mock the public.
On Monday and Tuesday the societies return to the streets. On the night of Fat Tuesday the Haguète, a puppet that symbolizes the carnival and winter, is burned on a bonfire while the groups dance around it, and the Cwarmê ends.
The great Sunday afternoon procession. The Haguètes with the hape-tchâr through the streets of the center. The burning of the Haguète on the night of Fat Tuesday. The opening with the Trouv'lê on Saturday.
Sunday is the busiest day; arrive early to find a spot along the procession route through the center. Malmedy has no train station: go by bus from Verviers or Trois-Ponts, or by car, leaving it outside the center. Bring warm clothing and waterproof footwear, because February and March are cold in the Ardennes. If a Haguète grabs you, tradition is to kneel and ask forgiveness.
Malmedy has limited accommodation; book in advance or stay in Stavelot or Spa. Each year’s program is published on the city of Malmedy website.
In the city
February/March
February/MarchFrom Carnival Sunday to Shrove Tuesday, the three days before Ash Wednesday, in February or March depending on the date of Easter.
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.
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 four days that end on Fat Tuesday, between February and March.
They are figures of the Cwarmê, dressed in ornate velvet with feathered hats, who grab spectators by the ankle with a wooden clamp until they ask forgiveness in Walloon.
The use of Walloon for everything, from the opening to the songs and the playful interactions with the public, is the hallmark of the Cwarmê and a tradition preserved by the city.
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.