Carnaval de Dunkerque

Déguisements & costumes, marching and typical parapluies de Dunkerque

There on the north coast of France, very close to Belgium, lies the unpretentious city of Dunkerque. Its past might tell stories of dunes and churches as its name suggests (dune+kerke), but its present is definitely about its Carnaval. Listed even by wikipedia as one of the city's tourists attractions, le Carnaval de Dunkerque is a local pride. As it is common in other carnavals of northern Europe, everyone participates....children and grannies alike!

Following a tacit costume code, men use (and like) to dress as women, others recicle old stuff from aunts and grannies and almost everyone soaks his/her face in make up! The party starts weeks before the final carnaval days, and everyone gets ready for the adrenalinic rigodon final, an experience that inevitably remains impressed in everyone's mind...or chest. M, so what is this final rigodon? Is it marching? is it dancing or more like pogoing? Well, it is the moment music gets to a central podium around which all participanting carnevaleux start to squash one another, they are literally compressed! I was incidentally taken away by a group of rigodon-fans and I could barely breath, squeezed as I was among them! All in all, Dunkerque's carnaval seemed to be a survival experience! :P