History and traditions of Dunkirk Carnival

It all starts with the Iceland fishermen

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Dunkirk lived off fishing. Every year, sailors set off for six months to fish cod and herring in the freezing waters off Iceland, a campaign so dangerous that many never came home. Before they left, shipowners threw them a lavish, well-lubricated feast and paid out half their wages in advance: this was the "foye". Those lost at sea left wives and children with no income, in the Courghain district.

Out of these farewell parties, blended with the fat days before Lent, came the Visschersbende, Flemish for "fishermen's bande", which still parades today on the Sunday of the Trois Joyeuses. The oldest known written record is an ordinance from 1676 regulating the wearing of masks: it proves the celebration already existed, though it doesn't mark its birth.

Tradition also explains why men dress as women: since the fishermen's own clothes were already packed for the voyage, they supposedly borrowed their wives' dresses and decorated their hats with flowers. A lovely story, closer to legend than to historical record, but it still explains today's "ma tante" figures.

Balls for widows and orphans

In the 19th century, faced with repeated shipwrecks, the people of Dunkirk organised. Philanthropic and carnival societies sprang up to support the families of lost sailors, long before any welfare state existed. To raise funds, they held balls. The tradition has lasted: even today, every ball at the Kursaal is run by an association, often in aid of charity.

The giants of Dunkirk

Reuze is Dunkirk's giant, surrounded by his family: his wife Reuzinne, their children and their guards. According to the legend told by the city, he was a Scandinavian warrior who came to raid the region around 1550, before converting and becoming the city's protector. His name comes from the Flemish "reus", meaning giant. He comes out for major occasions, traditionally on the morning of the fishermen's bande, during the avant-bande.

A carnival nothing can stop

The carnival has lived through wars, and it has always come back. In 1946, in a city almost 90% destroyed, the bande wound its way between the ruins. In 1991, during the Gulf War, the carnival was officially banned: no matter, an improvised "cancelled bande" went ahead anyway in Saint-Pol and then Dunkirk. As they say here, there will always be some resistance! And after three seasons disrupted by Covid, from 2020 to 2022, the carnival made a triumphant comeback in 2023, with a record 71,000 carnavaleux in the fishermen's bande.

Here, we're Flemish, not "ch'ti"!

During carnival, the black lion with red claws on a yellow field is everywhere: on umbrellas, on clet'ches, on balconies, on hats. And the Dunkirk dialect still carries traces of Flemish, long the region's mother tongue: clet'che, Visschersbende, berguenaere, zot'che... Words you'll soon pick up yourself. Open the little carnival dictionary.

The drum majors, guardians of tradition

Every bande has its drum major, and some have become legends in their own right. The most famous remains Cô-Pinard II, real name Jean Minne, who died in 1988: it was in his honour that the Hommage au Cô was written, sung on bended knee at the end of every bande, just before the Cantate à Jean Bart.

In Malo, the bande is led by Goliath VIII, heir to a prestigious line: according to the city, it was Goliath I, the first drum major of the Bande de la Violette, who revived the drum major tradition in 1895, soon copied by Dunkirk and the surrounding towns. Goliath VIII and Cô Boont'che, Dunkirk's drum major, were in fact sworn in together, and have led their bandes side by side for more than ten years.

Jean Bart, the city's hero

A privateer born in Dunkirk in 1650, Jean Bart is the city's hero. His statue, unveiled in 1845, stands over the square that bears his name. The Cantate à Jean Bart, now the carnival's anthem, was written for that unveiling. At the end of the fishermen's bande's rigodon, thousands of carnavaleux kneel at his feet, hand in hand, to sing it.

True or false?

• "The carnival was born in 1676." False: that's the date of the oldest written record, not the date it began.
• "Herrings have always been thrown." False: the herring throw dates back to 1962.
• "The Malo bande is one of the Trois Joyeuses." False: it takes place the following Sunday.
• "The chapelles are open to everyone." False: you need an invitation.
• "You have to dress up to take part." False: it's a tradition, not an obligation. But you do need to be in costume, or at least made up!
• "You can chahut in front of the clique." Absolutely not: you never chahut in front of the band.

The other chapters