Kattenstoet

The "Kattenstoet" is a parade in Ypres, Belgium, devoted to the cat. It is held every third year on the second Sunday of May.

The parade commemorates an Ypres tradition from the Middle Ages in which cats were thrown from the belfry tower of the Cloth Hall to the town square below. The reasons for this are not clearly understood, but may have had something to do with an association of the cat with witchcraft. Symbolically reviving this practice for the parade festivities, a jester tosses stuffed toy cats from the Cloth Hall belfry down to the crowd, which awaits with outstretched arms to catch one.

The cat throwing is followed by a mock witch burning.

Participants in the festivities often dress as cats, witches, or townspeople from ages past.

External links

* [http://www.ieper.be/ieper_en.aspx?SGREF=13725 Cats Parade] - City of Ieper