After two years without an Aalst Carnival parade due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year's edition of the controversial three-day event again raised eyebrows as some participants were photographed proudly donning blackface.
This weekend, the Sunday parade (called the 'Shrove parade') of Aalst Carnival drew some 105,000 spectators – a record according to the city. While the city announced the event's first day went off without any significant incidents, photos taken of a number of participants have caused controversy online.
The theme of this year's parade made fun of "woke," referring to a term used to indicate society's increasing alertness to (racial) prejudice and discrimination.
In this year's Carnival parade, several people were shown with a face full of dark makeup in a racist caricature of Black people. One participant is even holding a box with a black sex toy in it, advertising a "fresh black eel" in dialect.
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Credit: Belga/Nicolas Maeterlinck
Credit: Belga/Nicolas Maeterlinck
Despite the authorities' insistence that Aalst Carnival "makes fun of everyone equally," the annual event has a controversial history with racism as well as antisemitism. During previous editions, controversial floats and figures depicted Orthodox Jews in a stereotypical way, with carnival-goers donning fake masks and hooked noses as well as dangling, chest-length sideburns.
Following the controversy over the use of anti-Semitic stereotypes (as well as previous ones in earlier years), the three-day Carnival became the first event ever to be removed from the list of UNESCO Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
A year later, however, the Carnival doubled down on its right to "mockery and satire" when a group of attendants drew specific criticism after showing up to the parade dressed as ants, with oversized shtreimels crowning their full-body insect suits.
Not celebrating with the handbrake on
In the run-up to this year's event, Aalst Mayor Christoph D'Haese of the Flemish rightwing N-VA party shot down the proposal by several city councillors of setting up a hotline where people can report sexual harassment or misconduct – as they said that incidents happen "every year" with Carnival.
"Anyone who wants to file a complaint can do so with the local police. It is also possible to speak to one of the officers on-site or to file a complaint digitally via the police website," D'Haese said. "But I will be honest: I am not going to concern myself with a Carnival hotline for sexual harassment."
The police are on standby, but that it's "not like they are going to start counting kisses," D'Haese stressed. "Carnival is Carnival. No one is obliged to come to the event; it is there to let off steam. Everything that is prohibited by law remains prohibited by law."
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He added that setting up a hotline would start discussions about where the line is between appropriate and inappropriate, which could affect the authenticity of Carnival. "Sexual misconduct is not allowed, but you do not need a hotline for that. We are not going to celebrate Carnival with a handbrake on, are we?"
"I repeat: what is punishable remains punishable," said D'Haese. "But the tolerance limits are completely different during Carnival than during other times of the year. I do not want to get into a 'woke' discourse."
