One Carnival venue on the world stage that may be lesser known has nonetheless earned the most impressive international recognition for its Carnival tradition. The Carnival of Binche in the small town of Binche, Belgium, was proclaimed a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2003.
At dawn on Fat Tuesday, boys and men from 3 to 60 years old take to the streets of Binche by the thousands. All the participants are dressed and masked as "Gilles" which have green goggle eyes, wax masks, and wooden shoes. The costumes are 16th century designs and some pieces are thought to be 150 years old themselves. The Gilles first begin warding off evil spirits by shaking sticks in the main square.
They then adorn themselves in expensive ostridge feather headdresses and after some carefully choreographed dancing, they take up arms in the form of oranges. Marching through town, they then start throwing the oranges at the crowd. While some are gently tossed, plenty more leave bruises or cause damage to property.
The tradition is of good intent, of course. The oranges are gifts symbolic of the coming warmer months.
Though you may not be in any of these cities, wherever you are this Fat Tuesday, now you know you can always toss an orange at somebody and shout "Laissez les bons temps rouler!"
