The Liège Fair ( or ; "October Fair"), founded in 1594, is the oldest Belgian ''
kermesse'' still celebrated today. It originally started in November but since 1871 has started in October. It is also the largest funfair in
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
in terms of the number of stallholders taking part, with more than 170 rides and food facilities. The total length of all the stalls is about two kilometres.
In the 21st century, its number of visitors has exceeded 1.5 million annually.
History
Although the first texts mentioning the existence of a fair in
Liège
Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...
, indicating the details of the organisation and listing the entertainments, only date back to the 14th century, its existence probably goes back to the origins of the city, in other words in the 8th century.
In 1350, under the episcopacy of prince-bishop
Engelbert de La Marck, the
Chapter
Chapter or Chapters may refer to:
Books
* Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document
* Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10
* Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...
of
Saint Lambert's Cathedral, Liège and the city magistrates decided to bring together the two existing fairs in a single fair located in at the place called "En Gravioule" which was then outside the city. This fair was dedicated to
St Lambert and lasted a week starting from 17 September.
In 1594, Prince-Bishop
Ernest of Bavaria
Wittelsbach- Hapsburg aristocrat Ernest of Bavaria () (17 December 1554 – 17 February 1612) was Prince-Elector-Archbishop of the Archbishopric of Cologne and, as such, Archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire and Duke of Westphalia, from 158 ...
founded a new annual fair, lasting for two weeks from 28 October, in honour of
St Simon and
St Jude
Jude the Apostle (Ancient Greek: Ἰούδας Ἰακώβου translit. Ioúdas Iakóbou Syriac/Aramaic: ܝܗܘܕܐ translit. Yahwada) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is generally identified as Tha ...
. The fair took place on La Batte.
In 1663, Prince-Bishop
Maximilian Henry of Bavaria transferred the river port's weekly horse market from the Place aux chevaux (now Place de la république française) to La Batte. From 1687, the fair of Saint Simon and Saint Jude supplanted all other fairs. It would take place each year at the same time and the same place for nearly two centuries.
In 1854, following the construction of the quays on the Meuse, especially including the reconstruction of the Pont des Arches, the fair was forced to move from La Batte to the new boulevard d'Avroy, created in 1835. What was to have been a temporary location, proved to be the definitive location.
[André Lebrun, Yves Moreau, Guido Convents et al., ''Foires et forains en Wallonie : magie foraine d'autrefois'', Liège, Éditions Mardaga, 1989, pp. 60-62.]
References
{{Reflist
Fairs in Belgium
Culture in Liège