The Belgian carnival first removed from UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list was the Carnival of Aalst.
Aalst Carnival was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List in 2010. The three-day celebration takes place in Aalst, East Flanders, traditionally beginning on the Sunday before Lent. Its program includes satirical floats, a Prince Carnival, political mockery, dancing and the burning of a carnival effigy.
UNESCO removed it in 2019 after repeated displays that were judged to encourage stereotypes and insult the memory of traumatic historical events, including genocide, slavery and racial segregation. The city of Aalst and Belgium requested the removal, rather than waiting for UNESCO to erase it unilaterally.
A common mix-up is Carnival of Binche, another famous Belgian festival that remains UNESCO-listed. Aalst’s removal did not end the festival itself: the carnival continues as a local annual tradition, but it no longer holds that UNESCO designation.