There are about fifteen carnival groups in Stavelot, including the famous “Blancs Moussis”.

Every year, on the weekend of the mid-Lent Sunday, these groups all get together to celebrate the Laetare over three days of jubilation. The festivities reach their peak when the spectacular parade walks through a crowd of 40,000 people.

A great popular festival, the Laetare sees the Blancs Moussis’ play practical jokes on the crowd, put up mocking posters, throw confetti, and dance traditional dances. All this together with the final rondeau on the Square perpetuate this carnival tradition.

Other carnival festivities can also be found in Ster-Francorchamps (one of the best preserved carnivals in Wallonia), as well as in Parfondruy and Beaumont where bonfires are held as a very ancient purification and fertility rite.

“The Capital of Laetare”, Stavelot also keeps up other traditions such as the seven-yearly Saint-Remacle’s Celebration or the very Walloon “Nuit de mai”.

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