Every year on August 9, locals dressed in uniforms gather in a Brussels back street near the Comic Book Museum to commemorate a battle fought back in 1311, when Brussels defeated its old enemy Leuven.
During the ceremony, a team of strong men carry a large beech tree called the Meiboom, or May tree, from Grand’Place to the corner of Rue des Sables and Rue du Marais, accompanied by musicians and a procession of giants. It is planted in the ground at around 5 pm to celebrate victory over the invaders from Leuven.
According to the legend, the tree has to be planted before 6pm to avoid the city suffering a terrible fate. And every year, a few men from Leuven do their best to block the procession somewhere along the route.
No one is quite sure if the legend is true, but it is an excuse to drink a few glasses of beer on a summer evening.
Derek Blyth’s hidden secret of the day: Derek Blyth is the author of the bestselling “The 500 Hidden Secrets of Belgium”. He picks out one of his favourite hidden secrets for The Brussels Times every day.
