The Carnival: 1st outing of the Blancs-Moussis
In Cologne, Binche, … Malmédy, the great festivities of Carnival animate the cities.
In Stavelot, the Blancs-Moussis, impatient to live their Laetare one month later, stroll in small groups through the streets of the city.
This famous “Sortie de Carnaval” is the last vestige of the Carnival in Stavelot and serves as an ideal introduction to our Laetare.
For a Blanc-Moussi, the day of carnival is the day when he puts on his uniform for the first time and becomes really “Blanc-Moussi”. In clusters of 8 to 10, grouped according to affinities, the godparents training their godchildren, the BM go out in the streets of Stavelot to intrigue passers-by and play with them. They visit friends, shopkeepers and family in a teasing mood.
“The exit consists, in single file, to follow a person and to imitate perfectly all its facts and gestures and especially to… growl loudly, much and often! Very often, the follow-up plays the game. We remember 25 BM crossing the Amblève on the bridge railing. In the end, the lucky one brings the group back home or to a bistro and there, out of sight, a general tour! The masks rise, the laughter bursts and the songs resound to thank the amused victims.”
What Stavelotain has never seen a group of Blancs-Moussis pay homage to the mistress of the house who welcomed them by gaily singing “Marie Clap’Sabot”?