The festival of carnaval :
This takes place during carnaval in Aalst. There are a lot of attractions and eating tents. You can fish rubber ducks and you can shoot on ballons and if you win, you can choose a price such as a teddybear. It is the biggest festival with attraction of the year in our area. Some attractions are : the xxl, the wild mouse and the eclipse. History of carnival of Aalst
Carnival is the three-days party before the start of Lent. It is, following the Christian habits, the last time you can drink enormous amounts of alcohol, eat tons of candy and meat and do things you actually should not be doing. The Aalst carnival has its origin in the Middle Ages. Cavalcades were held since 1851, yet without organisation by the city council. Only the events starting from 1923 are counted as official editions, as the Aalst city council organized the parade from then on. In 2010 the Aalst carnaval was awarded the status of UNESCO intangible World Heritage. Jeroen Sterck
Jolien Meremans Ine Vander Haegen |
Carnaval Aalst
The Carnival of Aalst or Aalst Carnival is a yearly three-day event, recognised by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. The carnival is celebrated in the days preceding Ash Wednesday. It is mainly a street happening; the celebrants dance on the city squares and visit café after café
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Prince carnaval Since 1953, each year a Prince Carnival is elected, he can reign the city during the entire three-day event. After his election he officially receives the keys of the city gates and the sceptre. He also becomes the ambassador of the city for the rest of the year. To become ‘Prince Carnaval’ is the dream of a lot of inhabitants of Aalst. The candidates spare no effort in making a CD and a great show for the elections. This year, the winner of the Prince carnaval election is Dennis, You can see him in the picture next to this text. Also Kaiser Carnival plays an important role. To become Kaiser, one needs to be Prince in three prior events. SATURDAY
“46ste Groot Verkleed Jefkesbal” Every year ‘De Jefkes’ from Sint-Anna have to welcome the enthousiastic carnavalists in the Sint-Anna hall. SUNDAY On Sunday the great carnival parade crosses the streets, a spectacle involving tens of thousands of visitors every year. Over 100 floats are included, and since 1970 the carnival groups are only from Aalst itself. Apart from these large groups also smaller groups 'losse groepen' participate. MONDAY The Monday parade has a different atmosphere than the Sunday one; the floats don't follow the strict Sunday order of appearance. In the evening, prizes are awarded based on points given on Sunday. In the evening, again many town squares are the centre of celebration. “Bezemdans en bezemworp Aalsterse Gilles” The yearly broom dance also takes place on monday, the ‘Gilles’ of Aalst chase with their brooms the evil ghosts and pray for good weather and a good harvest. “Ajuinworp”By tradition, on monday Prince Carnival and party committee members throw onion-sized candies from the balcony of the town hall to an enthousiastic public. Some of the onions include numbers matching with prizes among which one special prize: a golden onion, uniquely designed for that year's Carnival. TUESDAY “Voil Jeanettenstoet” On Tuesday the Stoet van de Voil Jeanetten (Aalst dialect for "Parade of the Dirty Sissies") goes through the streets. In this parade, men walk around in women's clothes with as attributes a bird cage, a herring, fake breasts, corsets, a fur coat, a worn umbrella and a stroller. This tradition originates from the history of Aalst: the lower class was too poor to buy or make a beautiful carnival costume, and for that reason the men put on the old and worn clothes of their wives. “Popverbranding” In the evening, the traditional puppet burning takes place to end the carnival event. To extend the time until the burning of the giant puppet, the participants whistle and shout aloud, but once the puppet catches fire the carnival comes to its emotional end with a third evening of celebrations. |