Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
When planning my trip to Belgium I came up with a tentative
route that would enable me to take in several traditional festivals along the
way. One of those in Brussels was something called the Meyboom. Hmmm, Meyboom sounds like something that should
take place in May but this happens every year on August 9th. The origins of the celebration aren’t entirely
clear, one legend relating it to a victory of the crossbowmen who defended
Brussels from an attack by Ghent, another to a marriage between members of two
feuding families from Brussels and Leuven to plant a tree each year.
In any event, the celebration has been going on for 710
years and involves the planting of a tree. Actually, a mature tree is uprooted
from a forest south of Brussels to be replanted somewhere in the city. The tree
gets carried through the city as part of a procession that includes bands, flag
twirlers, geants (the oversized papier mache puppets used in Belgian parades)
and various pageantry.
I planned in advance to take a good spot rather early on the
parade route as it snaked its way through the city center to enable me to
follow it along. Surprisingly the crowds weren’t too thick, most tourists and
locals alike seeming quite surprised by what they had come across – a bit of medieval
pageantry and tradition in what’s become one of the most rootless,
multi-cultural, international cities on earth.
The procession continues to the Grand Place in the center of
the city where a ceremony takes place in front of the city hall. I guess they
then go and plant the tree somewhere, although I can’t tell where they went
with it. The rest of the party continued through the streets back to the start
of the parade route where the participants could continue the party through the
evening. Overall it’s lots of good fun and a more than 700-year old tradition.
2025-05-22