The 25th edition of FolkNam, the Namur folklore and traditions festival, will take place this year on Saturday 15 April. This year’s event will be marked by a nighttime sound and light show, the organisers announced.
As usual, the festival will feature an arts and crafts market and a historical village on Namur’s Place d’Armes. The public will have free access to see craftsmen at work and can learn more about several Namur folk groups such as the Masuis and Cotelis Jambois society, who practise traditional Walloon dance.
Several touring groups, including the Medieval Company of the Furet and the Battalion of the Canaries of Namur, will perform reenactments for spectators. These spectacles incorporate folk music and dance. Attendees will also be able to learn old folk games or sample djote, a traditional cabbage stew garnished with bacon bits and sausage.
Namur's Citadel, around which the event will take place. Credit: Belga / Eric Lalmand
The opening ceremony, which will be marked by speeches and cake, will be held from 11:30 to 13:00. At 12:30, the third edition of the “Concoûrs do pus grand mougneû d'djote di Nameur” (Wallon language) will be held. In simple terms, this is a grand sausage (djote) eating competition.
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In addition to a historic procession through the city centre, the festival will also include a concert by the Molons of the Royal Moncrabeau Society (14:30), and a final spectacle on Place Maurice Servais (15:30). The event will conclude with the aforementioned sound and lightsperformance, which features several classic folk groups.
