Zinneke Parade 2008

Beginning in 2000, Brussels has staged an unusual biennial event called the Zinneke Parade. The term Zinneke comes from the Bruxellois dialect (the patois of old Brussels) and has something to do with a river that has multiple origins and is thus symbolic of the cosmopolitan multiplicity of the Belgian Capital. Or something like that.

At any rate, what is clear is that the parade brings together public art and community spirit in a rather bizarre, albeit extremely entertaining, fashion. This year's parade was held on May 31st and the theme was "Water". Given the interesting interpretations of the floats, we gather that the theme is more of a guideline than a strict rule.







There were floats, marchers, percussion ensembles, stilt-walkers, flame-throwers, water cannons, mermaids, pirate ships, and even a group of people decked out in IV bags filled with neon-colored liquids. It was sort of like Mardi Gras crossed with a mobile flea market.





The parade concluded downtown near the Brussels Bourse (the stock exchange building) in what the parade organizers were hoping would be a Guinness Book-esque mass simultaneous "jump". While we're not sure if any records were set, we did our part by jumping at the appointed time along with thousands of our Brussels neighbors gathered in the square.