Mons - Le Lumeçon

On the Sunday after Whitsun a strange festival takes place in Mons; it is called "Lumeçon" and has its origins in a processional game which dates from the end of the 14th C. and which is associated with St George. The participants are St George in the uniform of a cuirassier and a dragon called "Doudou", 10 so-called "Chinchins" who carry St George, as well as eight "devils", seven "wild men" and 12 "white men". They all form up in a procession which punctually at 12:30 p.m. leaves the Collégiale Ste-Waudru for the Grand-Place to the sounds of the "doudou" folk song. The dragon, over 9m/30ft long, is carried by the "white men" and moves his tail over the spectators with the help of the "wild men". The fight between St George and the