The Laetare of Stavelot is a traditional

carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

that occurs every

Laetare Sunday Laetare Sunday (Church Latin: ; Classical Latin: ; English: , , , , ) is the fourth Sunday in the season of Lent, in the Western Christian liturgical calendar. Traditionally, this Sunday has been a day of celebration, within the austere period ...

(fourth Sunday of

Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...

) in

Stavelot Stavelot (; german: Stablo ; wa, Ståvleu) is a town and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Francorchamps and Stavelot. It is best known as the home of Sp ...

Liège Province Liège (; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is the easternmost province of the Wallonia region of Belgium. Liège Province is the only Belgian province that has borders with three countries. It borders (clockwise from the north) the Du ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. This tradition, in Belgium's

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

region, is also known for its principal attraction: the "Blancs Moussis".

History

For several centuries the city of Stavelot was the capital of the

Princely Abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy The Princely Abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy, also Principality of Stavelot-Malmedy, sometimes known with its German name Stablo, was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire. Princely power was exercised by the Benedictine abbot of th ...

, an

ecclesiastical principality A principality (or sometimes princedom) can either be a monarchical feudatory or a sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a regnant-monarch with the title of prince and/or princess, or by a monarch with another title considered to fall under ...

of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

, which was ruled by a

prince-abbot A prince-abbot (german: Fürstabt) is a title for a cleric who is a Prince of the Church (like a Prince-bishop), in the sense of an ''ex officio'' temporal lord of a feudal entity, usually a State of the Holy Roman Empire. The territory ruled b ...

. An early prince-abbot is said to have forbidden his clerics from taking part in the popular festivities. According to popular legend, the inhabitants of Stavelot, who enjoyed the participation of monks in the festivities, decided to make fun of this prohibition by dressing up as monks to celebrate carnival until this too was prohibited. Then, in 1502, they created a white costume with a hood referring more discreetly to the

monastic habit A religious habit is a distinctive set of religious clothing worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally some plain garb recognizable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious eremitic and anchoritic life, a ...

. This costume was finally accepted by Prince-Abbot Wilhelm von Manderscheid-Kail. The Stavelotains added to the costume a strange mask with a very long, red and pointed nose; thus, the Blancs Moussis (in English: White Clad) were born. As an emblematic group of the Laetare de Stavelot and symbol of Walloon folklore, the Blancs Moussis have so far existed for more than five centuries, but it was not always easy for them. During the French occupation, they could not go out and party, returning stronger after 1820. In 1947, they created a fraternity with sparkling costumes and the group continued growing. They became dynamic ambassadors of Belgian folklore and are often invited as special guests to the Carnivals of Düsseldorf,

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, Compiègne, Saint-Quentin and elsewhere. This contributes to the fame of Stavelot.

Customs

During the parade, the Blancs Moussis shower people with

confetti Confetti are small pieces or streamers of paper, mylar, or metallic material which are usually thrown at celebrations, especially parades and weddings. The origins are from the Latin ''confectum'', with ''confetti'' the plural of Italian ''con ...

, dance, hit people’s heads with inflated

pig bladder Pig bladder (also pig's bladder) is the urinary bladder of a domestic pig, similar to the human urinary bladder. Today, this hollow organ has various applications in medicine, and in traditional cuisines and customs. Historically, the pig bladder ...

s, and otherwise entertain the crowd by jumping, grunting, imitating others. During the final part of the show on the Saint Remacle square, the Blancs Moussis lead the spectators in amazing

farandole The Farandole is an open-chain community dance popular in Provence, France. The Farandole bears similarities to the gavotte, jig, and tarantella. The carmagnole of the French Revolution is a derivative. Traditional dance The farandole is consi ...

s around the monumental fountain. They then put up posters on the house walls and shop windows, posters with word games, making fun sometimes of the local inhabitants, victims of something funny, embarrassing,... during the previous months. With its 2,200 participants and 35,000 spectators, the Laetare of Stavelot is a very popular festival. It celebrated its half millennium in 2002 and attracted 47,000 people. In 2017, over 500 Blancs Moussis took part, and almost 30,000 spectators were present. The event is a collective project of the entire city. Each year, there is a parade of local folklore groups but there are also some foreign groups. This festival is also famous for the abundance of confetti, with confetti cannons that throw more than 5 tons of multicolored paper into the crowd; in recent years this use of confetti has been called into question.Olivier Thunus
La survie du confetti lors des carnavals est-elle menacée?
RTBF, 7 Feb. 2017

References

External links

*{{url, http://www.laetare-stavelot.be/

Stavelot Spring (season) events in Belgium