Ducasse de Mons

The Ducasse de Mons or Doudou originates in the Middle Ages.[2] Its origins are difficult to pin down exactly. It has been attested since the 13th century[3] (the first known mention dates from 1248). It is a procession or ducasse[upper-alpha 1] with act of "circumambulation" around a religious symbol (e.g. a statue of the city's patron saint), in Latin circumambulatio or amburbium,[4] which can be found in many religions and beliefs.[5]

The shrine of Saint Waltrude

A tenacious but erroneous legend connects the Ducasse to the plague. In 1349, because Mons was touched by a plague epidemic (the famous Black Death), the authorities decided to organise a procession with the shrine of Saint Waltrude, the city's patroness. The shrine was brought to Casteau (a little village located between Mons and Soignies that has been the location of SHAPE since 1967). At the same time, the shrine of Vincent Madelgarus (Waltrude's husband) that was based in Soignies was also taken to the same place. After this procession, the plague disappeared. The miracle was attributed to Saint Waudru and it was decided to repeat the procession every year.

Through the following decades, what was originally a religious procession took on gradually a more worldly outlook. In 1352, the date was fixed on Trinity Sunday. After 1380, the fraternity of Saint George appeared in the procession, made up of members of the nobility, the city's mayor and aldermen. From 1440, the reconstitution of the combat between Saint George and a dragon took its place in the feast. The separation between the religious parts of the feast and the non religious began at this time. As the procession gradually acquired a more secular character, it became a social event in which all the city's constituents participate.

During the second half of the 16th century, the Ducasse was dependent on political and religious upheavals in the Spanish Low Countries. In 1786, the combat of Saint George and the dragon was suppressed following an edict promulgated by Emperor Joseph II of Austria.[6] Another vicissitude, French revolutionaries suppressed the game in 1794. The Concordat of 1801 restored the procession and the fight. The procession did not take place in 1803. Because of the "less religious" origin, the combat was excluded once again from the procession in 1819 following measures taken by King William I of the Netherlands.

19th-century engraving showing the combat of Saint George and the dragon

The tradition continued during the 19th and 20th centuries with more or less success. It was around 1930, under the impetus of Canon Edmond Puissant, that the procession regained its vigour, thanks to the creation of new groups and a renewal of costumes. Between 1973 and the 2000s, the game was reviewed and structured in the sense of diegesis (a style of fictional storytelling) by Georges Raepers, lawyer at the Bar Association of Mons. The celebrations were not held during World War I and World War II, as well as in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium.[7]

Since 2008, the Ducasse de Mons has been recognised as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, as part of the bi-national inscription "Processional giants and dragons in Belgium and France".[1]

The feast begins from the Saturday before Trinity Sunday to the next Sunday. As an eight-day festival with a specific liturgy, it can be called an octave.

• A big concert is organised on the Friday evening before Trinity weekend on the Grand Place of Mons, during which military bands from all over the world play music, and a braderie (street clearance sale) is organised on the Monday after.
• Another combat is organised on the following Sunday. The combat is reserved for children (public and actors). The dragon is lighter than the original.
• The streets of the centre of the town are a pedestrian zone during the festivities. These streets are full of people listening to music, eating Belgian chips, barbecuing, and drinking Belgian beer and soda.

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  Procession of the Car d'Or
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  Procession of the Car d'Or
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  The Car d'Or
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  Shrine on the Car d'Or
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  The Iron man
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  The little dragon for the kid's day
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  A fraternity named Beubeux
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  Peoples after the combat on the Grand Place
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  Raising of the Car d'Or on the Rampe Sainte-Waudru
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  The Car d'Or arrives at the Grand Place
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  Saint George and the Chinchins

• Bowker, John (1999). The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-866242-4.
• Goblet d'Alviella, Eugène (1908). Circumambulation in: Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics. Vol. 3. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark.

• (in French) Official website
• (in French) Official website of the city of Mons about Ducasse