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Ducasse de Mons (Doudou) is an eight-day festival running Sunday through Sunday, including a Friday night concert, festivities, the procession, Car d'Or, and the fight between Saint George and the dragon Sunday afternoon.
On June 2, 1349, Mons, Belgium, managed to defeat the Black Plague when the entire town transported the shrine of Waltrude to the village of Casteau. The villagers considered it a miracle and now celebrate the abolishment of the plague every year on Trinity Sunday since 1352.
The Ducasse de Mons is the celebration of that event. Each year a procession carries Waltrude's Shrine through the town, beginning with a torchlight handover on Saturday night. The following morning, the shrine lands in a gold horse-drawn wagon (Car d'Or), which needs to climb a very steep cobblestone hill (Rampe Sainte-Waudru) in one try if the town's good fortune continues for another year. Since the horses cannot do this alone, hundreds of onlookers assist the cart over the hill. Once it crests the hill, legend says the town will be free from significant disasters for another year.
The festival concludes with the battle between Saint George and the dragon, the Lumeçon, in the central town square of Mons. Dogs, devils, dragons, and saints, you have to see to believe.
Header Image: Daniel71953 at fr.Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
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