Kattestoet

Kattestoet (Festival of the Cats)

Second Sunday in May; parade every three years (2009, 2012, 2015 . . .)

A peculiar celebration to commemorate an event involving cats, Kattestoet is held in Ieper (Ypres), West Flanders, Belgium. There are different stories about how the festival began. One story says that in 962, Baudoin III, count of Flanders, threw several live cats from his castle tower to show that he wasn't awed by cats. The animals had historically been worshipped as creatures related to witches, and Baudoin, a recent Christian convert, was demonstrating that he didn't believe in such pagan ideas.
Another story is that cats in great numbers were needed in the Middle Ages to battle mice and rats. The Cloth Hall, where yearly sales of cloth and garments were held, attracted mice, and cats were set free to devour the mice. But once the sales were over, the rodent problem disappeared and there was a cat problem. The solution seemed to be to hurl the live cats from the belfry.
In the celebration today, about 2,000 people, dressed as cats, witches, and giants, march in a parade to the tune of bagpipes. Floats depict the history of the town and of feline figures—Puss in Boots, the Egyptian cat-headed goddess Bast, and others. The climax of the celebration comes when a jester throws toy witches and stuffed cloth cats from the town belfry.

CONTACTS:
Dienst Toerisme
Grote Markt 34
Ypres, B 8900 Belgium
32-57-23-92-20; fax: 32-57-239-275
www.ieper.be/ieper_en.aspx?SGREF=10587

SOURCES:
BkHolWrld-1986, May 12
GdWrldFest-1985, p. 21
HolSymbols-2009, p. 438