Belgium | college-sorority

I would like to talk about a specific point that people generally do not know about Belgium. However, it is one of the most important events: Carnivals! It is true that when it says Carnival , the first country that comes to your mind is Brazil. Nonetheless, there are also Carnivals in Belgium. I’m only going to speak about the two I feel are best. The first one is the Cwarme of Malmedy (Malmedy is the city where I was born). It is so important that we have a whole week off to celebrate it properly. The second one is the Laetare of Stavelot (I studied there for 6 years, during my secondary school).

Hope you’ll enjoy this article as much as I enjoy the Carnivals ;)

1)Cwarmê de Malmedy:

This carnival lasts 4 days altogether; it begins at midnight on Friday and ends at midnight on Tuesday. It is classified as a cultural heritage of the Wallonia-Brussels’ federation. Indeed, in 2016, the 558th event will take place. The first one took place in 1459 and the name Cwarmê is the walloon word for Lent (which also means 40 = number of days left before Easter). So it is the Easter celebration that sets the beginning of the Cwarmê. This year, the carnival starts on the 5th of February. Hopefully, I will be there to celebrate it. I would have no hesitation in recommending you to join me ; quite frankly it is THE event of the year in Belgium, people are getting ready for it the whole previous year.

The four Thursdays before the Carnival are also celebrated (they are called the four Shrove Thursdays or-in Walloon- the « P’titès-haguètes ». The first and the fourth Thursdays are opportunities for the children to wear costumes to school and parading on the streets. The second, and most of all, the third ones are celebrated by the over 16’s (as Belgians are allowed to drink as soon as they are 16). On the third Shrove Thursday, young people gather at a friend’s house and dress up together. It is really enjoyable to be united by the same costume, to have dinner together and –of course- to drink together. Here is a photograph of me and my friends dressed up like sportswomen from the 80’s.

After the dinner, we meet the other groups in a bar somewhere in Malmedy (to me, the best one is the Scotch Inn). It is crowded but the music is traditional and people are between 16 and 25 years old which is the ideal I think (as being 18).

Instead of celebrating the Cwarmê in Malmedy on Friday and Saturday, I celebrate it in my village. Every village nearby Malmedy has what we call une jeunesse (=a youth). Basically, it is a group made of the youngsters of a village who gather every weekend in order to build the carnival float and choose the costume. So on Friday we celebrate the opening ceremony of our carnival float. Every villager is invited to the carnival float shed, it is still an excellent opportunity for us to earn some money from the beers that we sell (because –as you might know- Belgians drink lots of beers). I must confess that this is a true stereotype. Anyway! On Saturday we parade with the carnival float in a preview showing. During the drive run, we stop at villagers’houses because they make for us something to eat (crisps, lunch, soup) and /or something to drink (home-made alcohol, for example fruits’ liqueurs or eggs’ Liqueur).

Usually, on Friday the citizen of Malmedy gather together in the pubs. On the other hand, the Saturday is much more official : the mayor gives the Malmedy’s keys to the Trouv’lê (=one of the traditional characters) which indicates the beginning of the Cwarmê.

Sunday is D-Day : it is the carnival procession. The Malmedians wear traditional costumes while the people from other villages (like me) wear our own costumes (which change every year). It is really colorful and the variety of costumes make that Carnival unique.

The youth of my village one of the traditional costumes: The Haguètes

On Monday, it is the day of the Rôles. Basically, this is a theatre play inspired by anecdotes that happend during the year (for example the mayor who was drunk one day or anyone who had an embarrassing situation). It is really funny but unfortunately for you (and even for me) it is played in Walloon and I can’t undersand it very well. On the other hand, I think it is of the utmost importance that it remains in Walloon because it is a part of our Heritage and it is also a way to save it.

The Shrove Tuesday is the last day of the Cwarmê. As it is the last day, everyone wears the same costume : as an Ardennais (=inhabitant of the Ardennes). We have our own songs in Walloon which are played by brass bands. At 7pm everybody gathers around the Albert The First Square and dance around a huge fire. Actually, an effigy of a Haguète is burnt which symbolises the end of the Carnival (and at the same time, the beginning of Lent). Here is a link to show you what that event looks like : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_S4fbCcywg (skip to the 5th minute).

2)Laetare de Stavelot :

This Carnival takes place on the third Sunday of Lent. There is huge rivalry between this Carnival and the one of Malmedy. Nobody really knows what is the reason neither when it started but it seems to remain year after year. The first edition of the Laetare took place in 1502 and at that time the principality of Stavelot-Malmedy was ruled by religious people. In 1502, the main priest decided to prohibite the presence of the other priests at the Carnival. As a result, the citizens decided to create a costume which looks like the monks’clothes. That’s how the traditional costume of the Blanc-Moussi was born.

The Laetare lasts 3 days (from Saturday to Monday). On Saturday there is a nocturnal procession based on the topic of light. Here is a photograph of my mother’s group (I’ve just discovered that picture on Google, it is quite scary to realise that everyone can see that picture so easily). The other picture represents my bestfriend and I disguised as Avatars. On Saturday night, people tend to make their own costumes. After the nocturnal procession there is a party located in the Abbey cellars.

At 2p.m on Sunday the proper procession starts which ends by the Rondeau des Blanc-Moussis. The Blanc-Moussis stand in circle and throw confetti at the crowd and also hit it with porks’ bladder (empty and washed -no worries). What makes that carnival so popular is the huge amount of confetti that is thrown at the audience. There are floats with confetti guns that throw altogether more than 5 tons of confetti.

At around 9 o’clock in the evening there is a huge firework display which takes place in the gardens of the abbey. Next to the garden there is a big top which has been put up for the carnival. “L’Emulation” is the official brass band of Stavelot which plays along for approximately 2 hours. After that, a DJ takes over the fun until midnight. Then the big top closes and we all have to find another place to keep partying (either a Café, the Abbey cellars or a friend’s house).

Monday is a day mainly devoted to the Stavelot’s citizens. There is an Awards Ceremony where the different groups are rewarded for their costumes, dances and animations. That creates a competitive feeling but there is still a chance for the losers to improve themselves for the next event which is going to take place on March the 5th, 6th and 7th.