As a cat lover, can you think of anything more wonderful than a parade dedicated to cats? If I’ve piqued your interest by using “cat” and “parade” in the same sentence, you might want to start planning a trip to Belgium.
Kattenstoet (which literally translates to “Cat Parade”) takes place in a small town named Ypres on the French border with Belgium on the second Sunday of May every three years. While this beloved festival celebrates cats, it is based on a rather gruesome tradition the townspeople of Ypres once partook in annually.
Read on to learn more about this unique festival, including its history and what to expect if you plan to attend in the future.
What Will Happen At The Celebration?
The Kattenstoet parade works like any other parade—participants build elaborate floats, sew costumes, and put on performances. It’s not unusual to see modern depictions of cats in this historically-focused celebration, either. For example, there’s a particularly popular float with a giant Garfield cat peeking out of a cardboard box.
While much of the festival is cat-focused, some aspects of the parade have nothing to do with cats. Attendees may see knights in chainmail walking with spears or people in medieval clothing holding pieces of cloth. This is just part of the tribute to the town’s history and humble beginnings in textile production.
The townspeople of Ypres participate in the celebration by decorating their shops with cat displays or baking cat-shaped buns or cookies.
After the parade procession, someone in a jester costume throws stuffed kittens from the bell tower to the anxiously waiting townspeople below, hoping to catch one of the plushies.
After the jester runs out of cats to throw, a mock witch-burning event takes place, where the crowd sets fire to a witch puppet.
The festival is a popular tourist event in Belgium, bringing thousands of visitors and boosting the local tourism economy. Event organizers expect 50,000 spectators to come from near and far to watch the 2024 parade.
How Did the Parade Take Place?
While the parade celebrates our loving relationship with our cats, it wasn’t always this way in Ypres.
During the Middle Ages, the town’s main industry was textile production. Textile manufacturers would use cats to keep their warehouses free of textile-destroying pests. These cats were free to roam Ypres as they pleased during the winter months, but when they began to reproduce too quickly, town officials realized they were in over their heads. The cats are increasing the town, and they don’t know what to do to meet the sudden overpopulation. They soon decided it only made sense to fire them.
Instead of sending them somewhere or dealing with them humanely, they decided to throw the cats from the bell tower to their deaths. They do this every year during the second week of Lent on a day they refer to as “Cat Wednesday.” This tradition continued for hundreds of years until the 1800s.
It is also important to remember that, at that time, cats were associated with witchcraft and evil, so their removal was celebrated, and many looked forward to the event.
Fortunately, the last time a live cat was thrown into the bell tower was in 1819.
Ypres officials decided to revive the tradition in 1937, except they chose to throw stuffed cats from the belfry instead of real ones. The goal is to acknowledge the town’s complex history with cats and celebrate them as well. The tradition was put on the back burner during World War II but returned in full swing in 1946 when town officials added a parade to the festivities.
When is Kattenstoet?
Kattenstoet is usually held three years on the second Sunday of May. The most recent festival was in May this year, so if you’re hoping to book a trip to attend the next one, you’ll have to wait until 2027.
Final Thoughts
The Kattenstoet parade is something for cat lovers to add to their bucket list. Being surrounded by thousands of other cat-loving people sounds like a good afternoon to me.
The festival is a great way for the town of Ypres to recognize its complex history with cats while also recognizing how much they are loved and admired today.
Featured Image Credit: Piqsels
