12th February 2012: Binche, it is more then just carnaval!

We went on the day of the Soumonce avec musique with drums and brass band and participants. It is tradition they wear a costume of carnaval of a previous year. This soumonces starts from 6 weeks ahead, starting with a drumband and ending on the last Sundays with a full band as seen in the video. The tradition of carnaval goes back 600 years and is Unesco protected inheritage. With music and noise peasants tried to chase away the Winter and wake up nature.
But Binche is much more then just carnaval. It has had a wealthy history, a castle even, with a big number of middle class citizens.
Nowadays it has a nice museum and also it's own brewery where you can stop for a drink or for a good meal. It can be very crowded on these days. Tourists found there way here.