Drums, clogs and confetti, dawn is filled with the ringing of the “Gilles” of Strépy-Bracquegnies. Sunday, the party resumes its rights at the Louviérois carnival, bereaved last year by a driver whose mad race had cost six lives.
The village of Strépy-Bracquegnies and its few hundred “Gilles” are preparing to rediscover their folklore, put on hold for too long. At dawn, the societies go from house to house to “pick up” their members.
Antonio is a survivor. Last year, he was rammed into the drama. He came out injured: “It’s very hard emotionally speaking. We had tears in our eyes. There was a lot of emotion. Carnival is a party. The “Gilles” are values. respect, friendship and conviviality. We are happy to meet again. It’s nice to see so many people. It’s a support for us, we needed that to get through the course even if we’ll never forget. J think about it every day.“
“We wanted it to be symbolic and strong”
A little further, Nicolas. Dressed in his Gille attire, the man wanted to be present in memory of his brother who died last year. The procession returned to the scene of the tragedy. A moment that Nicolas judges “emotionally complicated.” It develops : “It was very strong, because that’s what we had to do. There, now, the carnival really begins. (…) We made two rather discreet little tributes, very symbolic for us. We needed to do it, with no frills around it. We didn’t want a minute of silence, an even more emotionally complicated moment. We wanted it to be symbolic and strong.”
At 11:00 a.m., the roundel will hunt winter on the station plateau, then the carnival procession will set off from rue Ergot at 4:00 p.m. The festivities will brave the course of the sun and the sky will light up with fireworks at 9:30 p.m. The folklore will continue on Monday with a nocturnal procession and on Tuesday with the burning of the moguls.
A year ago, Sunday March 20, 2022, spring was just around the corner but it was still dark. It was pick up time. Between the bells and the joy of reunion after two years of health crisis, the members of the folk society of “Boute en Train” drummed from house to house to gather. 05:10. The police receive the first emergency calls. A driver has just torn apart the small crowd on rue des Canadiens, in Strépy-Bracquegnies. That morning, six people are broke and will not recover. Ten others are seriously injured and 27 affected more lightly.
Behind the wheel, Paolo Falzone and his passenger stopped a few hundred meters from the collision. Since then charged with manslaughter for five victims and murder for a sixth, the driver is in custody. On March 4, the Tournai council chamber decided to keep him in prison for two additional months. The file will be examined again by the council chamber in two months.