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Popular festival · Namur
On the third weekend of September, Namur holds the Fêtes de Wallonie with folk processions, concerts, a Mass in Walloon, and the stilt-walking combat at Place Saint-Aubain.
In the photo: Namur
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Fêtes de Wallonie in Namur — Namur
In September, peaking between the Friday and Monday of the third weekend.
September
Dates change every year: check this year's date before you travel.
The festival
The Fêtes de Wallonie were created in 1923 to celebrate Walloon identity and to recall the September uprisings of 1830 linked to Belgium’s independence. They take place in various towns in the south of the country, but the largest gathering is in Namur, the capital of Wallonia, on the third weekend of September.
At the opening, the mayor hands the keys of the city to the presidents of the neighborhood committees, who organize much of the program. During the festival days there are folk group processions, Walloon lie-telling contests, the péket route through the bars, concerts in several squares, and fireworks.
The most anticipated moment is the combat of the échasseurs, Namur’s stilt walkers, at Place Saint-Aubain in front of the cathedral on Sunday afternoon. Two teams on stilts try to knock each other down, a tradition documented since the Middle Ages; the last one standing wins the Échasse d'Or. On Monday, the day of the people of Namur, there is a Mass in Walloon, and the festival ends with the symbolic burial of the Arsouille.
For visitors, the Fêtes de Wallonie show Namur in a popular festive mood, with the citadel and the banks of the Meuse as the setting.
The stilt-walking combat for the Échasse d'Or on Sunday afternoon at Place Saint-Aubain. The folk processions. The fireworks. The Mass in Walloon on Monday.
There are direct trains from Brussels to Namur, and from the station you can reach the center on foot. For the stilt-walking combat, arrive early at Place Saint-Aubain. Many concerts in the squares are free to attend. The weekend is very crowded; the days before the weekend have a calmer program.
Péket, served in the bars of the center during the festival, and the street food from the stalls spread across the squares.
Accommodation in Namur fills up for the third weekend of September; book early or stay in Dinant or Brussels. Check the annual program published by the city and the committees.
In the city
Your questions
In September, peaking on the third Saturday and Sunday of the month. The stilt-walking combat takes place on Sunday afternoon.
It is a contest between teams on stilts who try to knock each other down. The last one standing receives the Échasse d'Or in the Fêtes de Wallonie combat.
To celebrate Walloon identity and to remember the September uprisings of 1830 linked to Belgium’s independence. The festival was created in 1923.
Festivals and events in Belgium
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.
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.
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
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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.