The first day of the Aalst carnival drew record crowds, with some 105,000 spectators, according to the organizers of the event. The mayor said he expected 80,000 visitors before the start of the festivities, but this figure was greatly exceeded.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the carnival in Aalst had not been held for three years. It should continue until Tuesday.
This Sunday, the festivities started with a procession traversing the streets, made up of nearly 300 groups: 71 carnival companies and 217 groups which are added to it, that is to say a total of approximately 5,000 to 6,000 people who parade.
The route of the procession is 6km long, via the Vlaanderenstraat and the Keizersplein to the Grote Markt, the city’s Grand Place.
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Political figures present and in the mood
It should be noted that the carnival of Aalst also attracted beautiful people, and several political personalities went there and even played the game there. We could thus see Conner Rousseau, president of Vooruit, circulating in a wheelbarrow pushed by Flemish Minister Matthias Diependaele (N-VA). Alexander De Croo also took part in the party.
The mayor of the city Christoph D’Haese (N-VA) also welcomed their presence. “It’s even striking: the federal and Flemish governments are on good terms here. In Aalst, we can conclude agreements. The right to humor takes center stage and triumphs today.”
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A satirical carnival that has made the news in recent years
The carnival in Aalst has been in the news for the past few years. Given its tradition of satire and “political” carnival making fun of major current events and well-known figures, its floats usually do not leave anyone indifferent. The main controversy of recent years: tanks and disguises caricaturing the Jewish community. What had made say in 2020 to the European commissioner in charge of the Promotion of the European way of life and the fight against anti-Semitism, the Greek Margaritis Schinas, that the carnival of Aalst was “a shame”.
In 2019, the carnival of Aalst had made the news well beyond the Belgian or even European media. Unesco had decided to remove the event from its list of intangible cultural heritage, on which it had been inscribed since 2010, because of a float presenting Orthodox Jews with crooked noses and fingers, seated on bags of gold.
The mayor of the city, Christoph D’Haese, has always defended his carnival tooth and nail, rejecting any anti-Semitic intention and repeating that there is no reason to censor carnival societies.
It is no different this year. “The right to party is a fundamental right. We know what we can laugh at or not. But the right to humor is central here,” he said just before the launch of the event.