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Popular festival · Stavelot
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.
In the photo: Stavelot
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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Laetare of Stavelot — Stavelot
On Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent, three weeks before Easter, in March or early April; from Saturday to Monday.
March/April
Dates change every year: check this year's date before you travel.
The festival
Stavelot celebrates carnival on Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent, when the Church relaxed fasting rules. The festival runs from Saturday to Monday and stars the Blancs Moussis, dressed in white from head to toe, with a hood and a very long red nose mask.
Local tradition places the origin of the Blancs Moussis in 1502, linked to restrictions imposed by the abbey monks on the townspeople’s festivities. After World War II, a group of young people founded the brotherhood that keeps the character alive and made it famous beyond the town.
In the days before the event, irreverent posters around town announce the celebration. On Sunday afternoon floats, bands and groups from various neighborhoods and villages parade. The Blancs Moussis jump, grunt and cover spectators with confetti, sometimes using inflated balloons. At the end, in Place Saint-Remacle, they lead circles and processions around the monumental fountain.
Laetare is a community effort involving dozens of groups and societies. Sunday night features fireworks and parties in the abbey cellars, and Monday brings music and folklore through the streets.
The Sunday afternoon parade. The confetti shower from the Blancs Moussis. The final circles at Place Saint-Remacle. The Sunday night fireworks.
Choose a spot along the parade route through the town center before early Sunday afternoon. Wear clothes that can take confetti and bring a coat for March chill. There is no train station in Stavelot; the option is to drive and park on the town’s outskirts, or take the regional bus. The abbey, in the centre, helps you understand the town’s history before the celebration.
Accommodation in Stavelot is limited; book early or stay in Spa or Malmedy. Check the programme on the official Laetare website.
In the city
March/April
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.
Your questions
Three weeks before Easter, between March and early April. The main procession takes place on Sunday afternoon.
They are the carnival characters of Stavelot, dressed in white with a hood and a long red nose mask, who throw confetti at the public.
It is the Latin name of the fourth Sunday of Lent, meaning “rejoice,” when the strictness of fasting was relaxed.
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.