The Carnival of Binche takes place every year in the Belgian town of Binche during the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday preceding Ash Wednesday, and is an event with a long history. The carnival is one of several events that happen at the same time in Wallonia, Belgium and it is the best-known of them all.
The Belgian Hainaut province is where Binche, a town located in south of Brussels, is located. It is home to one of the oldest street carnivals in Europe that is held over a three-day period during the period preceding Lent. Each year, the town holds a carnival that mobilizes the historic center and attracts throngs of people. This celebration has its roots in the Middle Ages, making the town's famous street festival one of Europe's oldest street carnivals still surviving today.
An air of merry industriousness has been permeating Binchois village since the beginning of January, as hundreds of thousands of Binchois participate in drum rehearsals and themed ball celebrations together. It is on Shrove Sunday (aka Shrove Tuesday), which marks the official beginning of the carnival, that Binche's streets and cafés come to life with roving hordes of masqueraded merrymakers. This day is particularly noteworthy for the Mam'selle, a group of males who dress up in elaborate female apparel. At the end of the carnival, on Mardi Gras, the legendary Gille characters will appear, bringing the carnival to a grand close. After an elaborate ceremony of ceremonial dressing, several hundred Gilles dressed in red, yellow and black costumes, complete with ostrich feather hats, wooden clogs and wax masks with small spectacles, parade through the town to the beat of the drum. As the processions move, pierrots, harlequins, and peasants follow them, mingling with local brass and clarinet bands and costumed revellers. Dancers, accompanied by traditional music played on the viola and drums, perform an assortment of steps that includes the pas de Gille, which is perfectly apt in the circumstances, a perennial favourite. On the evening of the 25th, the Gilles family danced in the Grand Place under the light of fireworks to culminate the day's events.
There is no doubt that the Carnival of Binche is a truly popular festival, renowned for its spontaneity as well as the sizeable financial contributions of its participants. With great pride, the townspeople of the town participate in the carnival celebration every year, eagerly preserving the precious craftsmanship and expertise associated with the carnival’s traditional costumes, accessories, and performances and music.
References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_of_Binche https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/carnival-of-binche-00033