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Witness / Attend in Binche
Carnival of Binche
A small walled town in Hainaut, Wallonia, ringed by the best-preserved medieval ramparts in Belgium, and home to the Carnival of Binche, a UNESCO-listed folk carnival famous for its masked Gilles that fills the streets on the three days before Ash Wednesday.
Organized by Ville de Binche, which publishes the official dates and program.
Dates & details verified against: Official city source ↗
Why here
The Carnival of Binche is the most famous carnival in Belgium and one of the oldest surviving street festivals in Europe, staged in this small Hainaut town on the three days before Ash Wednesday. UNESCO listed it in 2003 as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. The whole spectacle builds to Shrove Tuesday, when up to a thousand Gilles, local men dressed in stuffed linen suits painted with lions and crowns, appear at dawn in identical wax masks, dance through the streets to the beat of drums and violas in their wooden clogs, and in the afternoon parade to the Grand-Place tossing blood oranges to the crowd. It is a closed folk ritual rather than a show put on for tourists: you can only become a Gille if you are a man from Binche, the costumes never leave the town, and the oranges may not be bought or resold. Standing in the square as the Gilles advance behind their giant ostrich-plume hats is one of the great living-heritage experiences in Europe.
Best months
The carnival always falls on the Sunday, Monday and Shrove Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, so the dates move each year with Easter. In 2026 it runs 15 to 17 February and in 2027 from 7 to 9 February. The Gilles appear mainly on the Tuesday, from around 4am through the afternoon rondeau on the Grand-Place. February in Hainaut is cold and often wet, so dress warmly. The oranges are thrown hard, so watch the parade rather than trying to catch them at close range.
Getting there & around
Binche has its own railway station about an hour from Brussels with a change at La Louviere, and sits roughly 20km east of Mons. The whole carnival takes place in and around the Grand-Place, easily walked from the station. On Shrove Tuesday the centre closes to traffic and fills early, so come well before the afternoon parade, and note that hotel rooms in Binche and nearby Mons book up months ahead for carnival week.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (2)
MUMASK - International Carnival and Mask Museum
OrganizerThe International Carnival and Mask Museum, MUMASK, opened in Binche in 1962 and occupies a former Augustinian college beside the Saint-Ursmer collegiate church. It began as a record of the local carnival and grew into a collection of masked and festive traditions from Belgium and around the world, with a permanent display on Belgian intangible heritage and rooms devoted to the Gilles of Binche, their painted suits, wax masks and ostrich-plume hats.
Office du Tourisme de Binche
OrganizerThe Carnival of Binche is run by the town of Binche through its tourist office on the Grand-Place, which coordinates the three days of festivities before Ash Wednesday and publishes the official programme. Inscribed by UNESCO in 2003 as a Masterpiece of Intangible Heritage, the carnival centres on the Gilles, up to a thousand costumed men in wax masks and wooden clogs who parade to drum music and throw blood oranges to the crowd on Shrove Tuesday.