Which Belgian town is home to the Carnival famous for performers called Gilles? The answer is Binche.
The Carnival of Binche is held in Binche, a town in Belgium’s Hainaut province. Its central figures are the Gilles, traditionally male performers who wear padded costumes in red, yellow, and black, wooden clogs, bells, and distinctive wax masks. On Shrove Tuesday, they parade through the town to drum music and throw oranges to spectators.
The festival’s documented history reaches back to 1394, while the Gilles first appear in written records in 1795. The carnival follows a carefully preserved local tradition: performers gather before dawn, dance with bundles of twigs called ramons, and later wear tall hats decorated with ostrich feathers. The oranges are gifts and symbols of good fortune, not projectiles intended as insults.
Other Belgian towns also have Gilles traditions, but Binche is the internationally recognized home of the most famous and codified celebration. UNESCO recognized the Carnival of Binche as intangible cultural heritage in 2003.