The Ommegang of Brussels, an annual historical procession and popular festival in Brussels, is held every July in the historic center of the city. It begins with a crossbow competition and a ceremony in the Sablon Church. In the streets, many groups form a parade.
A popular annual event, Ommegang of Brussels is held in the historical center of Brussels every July. It begins with a crossbow competition and a ceremony in Sablon Church. Thereafter, a procession of various groups moves along a 1.5 km route through Brussels to the Grand Place, where they join the Belgian magistrate and bearers of various forms of living heritage. Together they march and perform an organic performance.
Ommegang originated in 1348 as a religious event but declined in the 18th century. The modern Ommegang, which originated from descriptions of the procession Charles V attended in 1549, was then recreated in 1928-1930. Today, it's a festive, local heritage event.
There are various volunteer groups that get together and prepare for their roles together, inspiring younger volunteers to get involved. These groups have grown into clubs that, during the Ommegang in early July, meet with other clubs to socialize. Children attend with their parents, and some people have been involved for forty years or more. Every year, the Ommegang Association monitors its viability, and it plans and promotes the next event.
For about a century, Brussels didn't celebrate Ommegang. In 1930, however, on the occasion of the Belgian Revolution's centenary celebrations, some history enthusiasts organized a historical procession to remember the event. Organizers opted not to revive the ancestral "circumambulation" for this event, but to reproduce the sumptuous Ommegang, which was offered to Charles V and Philip II in 1549 by the city of Brussels.
The performance was so successful, that the city decided to repeat it in subsequent years. This is how the current Ommegang came about. Even though this show has become historical, the Ommegang still preserves many traditional and authentic elements, such as reenacting the Brussels Lineages, reenacting the Oaths of Crossbowmen, and reenacting the Virgin of Victories, and remains an important event in Brussels each year.
Today, Ommegang Oppidi Bruxellensis organizes the event twice a year, in June and July. It's in the Sablon/Zavel district in the historic center of Brussels and ends in a large spectacle at the Grand Place. Ommegang Pageant recreates a traditional Renaissance village, allowing visitors of all ages to see how people lived during that time period in a setting full of history and tradition.