Gilles

This weekend was the 'Braderie' in Braine L'Alleud (the next town to us).

Like the Braderie in Waterloo that I wrote about last weekend, the shops were open and there was entertainment in the streets, but the main difference being the presence of 'Les Gilles'

Gilles originate from Binche where there is a big carnival in February, and there can be up to 1,000 Gilles! They dress in traditional costume which is stuffed with straw to give them a hunched back and round bellies, and they wear clogs and white caps. They also carry sticks which apparently ward off evil spirits.

The Gilles have to be accompanied by a drummer and when the drummer 'drums' the Gilles dance a very strange dance which is basically stomping their clogs and marching or turning round in circles. There are a group of them here

They have an orange throwing ritua, and carry baskets of oranges - if an orange is thrown at you it's considered good luck, and it's an insult if you throw it back!

It's a big honour to be a Gille and the tradition seems to pass down from father to son. However today, we actually saw some ladies in different costumes but also wearing clogs and accompanied by a drummer. You can see them here.

They start from a very young age, like this little boy and you can see his clogs.

It's really interesting and great to see, particuarly when you see one of the main Gilles with an Ostrich plume hat. Unfortunately we didn't see any today.