carnaval.com/belgium
 
 
 

 

The carnival in Binche is world famous and now on the UNESCO heritage list, as it dates back to the 16th century . It is a 3 day Carnival concluding on Shrove Tuesday. On Carnival Sunday  the parade of "Mam'selles" and fancy dress groups begins at 10:00 AM. Various processions, heralded by brass instruments, converge at 3:00 PM on the center of town. The 27th is devoted to youth groups who form a circle of friendship. Then on Shrove Tuesday, every Gille makes his traditional march to the town's Grand' Place to perform a dance. Mardi Gras is the only day one sees the "Gilles" in their various rites from daybreak to the midnight fireworks ending the carnival.

The "Gille" is a local carnival character whose hay-colored costume decorated with appliqued lions, crowns and stars in the Belgian colors of red, yellow and black is stuffed with hay and belted with heavy, jangling bells.

Most impressive is the white feathered headdress, as much as four feet tall and weighing up to 7 pounds, that completes the costume. Some 800 men and boys of the town throng Binche's Grand'Place and toss oranges to the spectators.

Binche is a small town in the Belgian Province of Hainaut about 34 miles south of Brussels. It has a very interesting Carnival and Mask Museum whose 25 rooms offer a spectacular illustration of this theme in the life of man.

Carnival and Mask Museum of Binche, rue Saint Moustier, 10 - B-7130 Binche. 

Tel: (3264) 33- 5741 - Fax: (3264) 34-1430. 
Aalst Carnaval
  The carnival begins with a procession, in which the locals present their own interpretation of the previous year's events. Expect large-scale caricatures and plenty of good old slapstick comedy, even if some of the more local intrigue may be slightly obscure! The procession is repeated on the second day, culminating this time in a frenzy of onion throwing. Don't worry about tears and evil smells: the real thing was replaced years ago by confectionery imitating the shape of the pungent bulb. The flying onions carry numbers, which could enable a lucky winner to walk home with the prized "golden onion" after the concluding lottery.

The excitement isn't over yet: the afternoon brings further insanity with the arrival of the Gilles d'Aalst. Like their peers in Binche, these comedy figures are swathed in padded straw costumes, but they are unique in that they (literally) sweep the audience off their feet during the entertaining danse du balai, or broom dance, which carries on until evening.
Lueven Carnaval
 
Lueven (official)
wiki/Leuven
Image:Stadswapen_Leuven.gif Leuven(French Louvain, German Löwen) is the capital of the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The actual town comprises the historical city of Leuven and the adjacent villages of Heverlee, Kessel-Lo, a part of Korbeek-Lo, Wilsele and Wijgmaal. On the 1st of January, 2005 Leuven had a total population of 89,910.

In the 15th century a new golden era begins with the founding of the largest and oldest university in the Low Countries: the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (K.U.Leuven, or Catholic University Leuven) in 1425.

In the 18th century Leuven became even more important because of a flourishing brewery that would later become Interbrew (recently renamed to InBev), the largest brewery company in the world. In fact, InBev's Stella Artois brewery and main offices dominate the entire north-eastern part of the town, between the railway station and the canal to Mechelen.

Nowadays Leuven is a real "student city", as most citizens in its center are students. Leuven sports one of the liveliest bar scenes in Belgium. Besides boasting the "longest bar" in Belgium, the Old Market, tens of bars and cafés crammed into a central square in Leuven, it's also the proud home city of Belgium's smallest bar, Onder den Toog in the Noormannenstraat, a must for every visitor to Leuven seeking adventure and folklore. The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Catholic University Leuven) is considered one of the best universities in Europe.