The Tradition of Binche Carnival Hats: From Rental to Restoration

“This year, I received all my hats back in impeccable condition,” reassures Jacques Seghers, rental company, who made around 80 hats this season. “The day after Mardi Gras, the first costumes were already leaving for other Carnivals held in the surrounding villages. And this will continue until the end of the carnival season around Easter.”

Gille hats are stored in City Hall just after the Mardi Gras procession. ©Mathieu Golinvaux

Because it is obviously not only in Binche that Gilles wear this hat made of ostrich feathers. Starting this Sunday, Haine-Saint-Pierre, Morlanwelz, Nivelles and Anderlues will celebrate the Feureu. “All the Carnival hats are new,” explains Fanny Kersten, another Binchois rental company. “They are then restored a little and then rented to other gilles. The following year, they can still be rented but as a second choice because in the long run, the feathers, which are real natural ostrich feathers imported from South Africa, lose their shine before, literally and figuratively, to die. As a result, the lifespan of a hat does not exceed approximately two years.”

Until Easter

The Carnival season lasts until Easter. “There are still a few Carnivals after this date but it is especially at Laetare and Easter that we rent the most hats.”

As for the gille costumes, “they are also made to measure for the gilles of Binche before being readjusted and re-rented to the gilles of other communes”, Jacques Seghers confirms.

From the summer, the various Binchois rental companies, Fanny and Louis Kersten, Karl and Quentin Kersten and Jacques Seghers, will begin making new hats in preparation for the following carnival season. A know-how that has been perpetuated for several generations in the Kersten family from which Jacques Seghers also comes.

2024-02-15 12:28:49
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