563th Malmedy carnival 2024

An age-old tradition

Malmedy’s Cwarmê is been celebrated for centuries: an archival document dating back to 25 June 1459 refers to the Monday and Tuesday of the “Quarmae”, thus suggesting that the Cwarmê (dialect for Malmedian Carnival) was being celebrated as early as that date and possibly even a lot earlier. In Malmedy, the word “Cwarmê ” refers to the carnival period that lasts for four days, from Saturday at noon to midnight on the day of Mardi Gras (Shrove Tuesday).

The four days are also called the “grandès-haguètes” in contrast to the “p’titès haguètes“, which are the four Thursdays, or Shrove Thursdays, preceding the Cwarmê. These Thursdays were regarded as masquerade days as early as 1666, as underscored by the story told about a fatal accident on Tuesday, 24 February, when a young girl’s linen mask caught fire. The unfortunate young lady was presumably getting herself ready for the following Thursday…

The first ban on celebrating the carnival was announced in 1695, during the reign of the prince abbots. Several other bans were issued during the 18th century. However, the people of Malmedy had other ideas and disregarded the prohibitions.

It is hard now to imagine what the festivities were like in those far-off times but the official creation of organized associations has facilitated the discovery of many traces of the 19th century carnival celebrations, which very similar to the present-day ones.

During the 20th century, bans were imposed only during wartime and in 1962, owing to the risk of infection during a smallpox epidemic.

The dogged spirit of the Malmedy inhabitants has guaranteed this astonishing continuity of the Cwarmê tradition.

Carnival of Malmedy.

The traditional carnival figures

	Lu Trouv’lê He represents the seat of power for the town during the 4 days of the “CWARMÊ.”
	Lu Grosse Police In earlier times, the drummers of the guard drummed in the CWARMÊ and the police order. In 1920, for the first time, the caricature emerged that is called – in the local language – “La Grosse Police” (The Fat Police). The beginning of the festive period was announced with a bell – “Le clabot” The town crier used the bell right up into the 1950s.
	Lu Djoup’sène
	Lu Haguète There is no documentary proof to confirm the existence of the “Haguète” before the middle of the 19th Century. However, legend already talks about this mysterious figure much earlier. The Haguète’s costume is made of velvet and decorated with satin and gold edgings. The mask has a hanging fringe with more fringes hanging from the sleeves and pants. Large multi-colored ostrich feathers decorate the hat. The “Haguète” is armed with a so-called “hape-tchâr” (flesh-snatcher – a pair of wooden articulated tongs) that is used to grab the arms and legs of the onlookers and not let them go until they kneel and say they’re sorry in Walloon: “Pardon, Haguète, à l’cawe du ramon, dju nu l’f’rès jamês pus!“ (Forgive me, Haguète, I swear on the broomstick, I will never do it again!).
	Lu Vèheû
	Lu Sotê The “Sotê” is a legendary dwarf that lived once in the grottos of Bévercé, close to Malmedy. In return for some food the dwarves carried out various services for the population. During the festivities, the “Sotê” amble through the streets and tease the spectators with their long arms. This age-old figure was first mentioned in documents dating back to the middle of the 18th Century.
	Lu Sâvadje-Cayèt   – Lu Sâvadje
	Lu Hârlikin Since the middle of the 18th Century, the “Hârlikin” (harlequin) – from the Italian “Commedia dell’ Arte” – is represented in the Cwarmê, along with the figures of the Pierrot, Paillasse and Colombine.
	Lu Pièrot The “Pièrot” in the Malmedy Cwarmê has always been dressed in a large white collar cloth that is decorated with large black buttons. He wears a large, white pointed hat, decorated also with the same kind of buttons. The “Pièrot” shares out oranges and nuts, which are carried on a cart. When his pockets are empty, he falls down onto the ground. The children then drag him to the cart where the goods are stored and sing: “Pove Pièrot qui n’a pus dès djèyes!” (Poor Pièrot has no more nuts!)
	Lu Long-Né The ‘long noses’ are ‘subversive’ groups of crazy revelers who try to bring a mad atmosphere onto the streets of the town. They move around in groups of six or seven in Indian file and look for a victim, whom they then imitate for a long time until the poor individual is made nervous and has to pay them a round of drinks. The ‘long noses’ wear long, pointed pixie hats, masks with very long noses, blue smocks, red neckerchiefs and white pants. A clay pipe hangs out of the corner of their mouths. They are absolutely unrecognizable behind their masks.
	Lu Longuès-Brèsses The “long arms” emerged in the carnival for the first time in 1883. The figure represents a clown with a small top hat decorated with a peacock feather. Hidden inside the extra-long sleeves of their multi-colored tailcoats, they hold sticks with white gloves at the end. The ‘long arms’ amuse themselves and the public by ruffling through the spectators’ hair with ‘the hands’ and swapping the spectators’ hats around.
	Lu Long-Ramon The ‘long brooms’ appeared for the first time in the 1920s. This costume resembles that of the ‘long arms.’ However, in place of the long arms they carry a broomstick about five meters long, whose end is made from the foliage of the broom shrub. It is decorated with a black, green and yellow band (i.e. in the colors of the town of Malmedy). This giant broom is used likewise to lift off the spectators’ hats and caps and to stroke the faces of guests standing at the windows on the first floor.
	Lu Boldjî The “Boldjî” (baker) is dressed completely in white with a rigid baker’s cap and he is made up to have a fat belly and thick cheeks. Hard salt pretzels are stitched onto his clothes. His ‘weapon’ is an enormous long paddle (normally used to slide bread out of the oven), with which he paws the ladies’ rears as if they were warm, round loaves of bread from the baking-oven.
	Lu Cwapî

Russian salad

Unique, exclusive to Malmedy, a must… Every festivity is accompanied by a real feast! Shrovetide came before Lent, when abstention was almost obligatory once up a time as the winters months dragged on. Food supplies were soon exhausted, as the procedures people used to keep food from spoiling were fairly rudimentary. Salting and smoking techniques were used for meat, while one of the few types of fish that reached this part of the world were herrings pickled in brine. Vegetables tended to be the sort that were easy to preserve in a cellar or storeroom: potatoes, beetroots, onions, celeriac, pickled gherkins, apples and even walnuts. Luckily the hens would keep on laying eggs.

It was a problem deciding what kind of dishes to make with these food items. Then someone came up with the idea of mixing these ingredients to make an odd kind of “salad” that was so unusual that people started to say it was kind of “Russian”, as though it came from Nowhereland! Every family added its own personal touch, seasoning the dish according to taste. A unique dish that could be prepared in advance so the lady of the house did not have worry about what to cook for the festivities! It can be eaten cold: alone, with friends, anytime night and day, and is great for alleviating hunger pangs and lifting the spirits!

Recipe using 6 herrings

The proportions are a bit vague but that should not be a problem as a long as you keep a watchful eye out! And after all, it would not do to reveal all the secrets about how to make this splendid dish. It is best to leave something to your imagination?

6 nice and firm herrings, 1 large glass of red beetroots (garden-fresh if possible) with the juice, 1 celeriac, 3 healthy looking onions, 1 dish of potatoes, 1 fine-looking apple, 6 hard-boiled eggs, 750 g of boiled beef, 500 of roast pork, 1 cup of oil, 1 glass of white pickled onions, 1 glass of gherkins, and you can also add one or two walnuts if you want.

• prepare a nice vegetable stock (carrots, celery, potatoes, leeks, mixed herbs…) to cook the beef until it is tender,
• roast the piece of pork in a pan according to taste,
• cook the peeled potatoes, celery and eggs,
• let everything cool off,
• chop the drained onions and gherkins, apple, cooked celery, half the beetroots, the vinegar-seasoned onions with herrings and crush the walnut kernels,
• slice finely the two kinds of meat, the herrings from which the bones have been removed, the rest of the beetroots, the hard-boiled eggs and potatoes,
• keep for garnishing the dishes: slices of hard-boiled eggs and beetroots, small onions and gherkins,
• mix everything in a basin, season with salt and pepper to taste,
• add the beetroots to give some colour,
• • cover with a cloth and leave the preparation for one or two days in a cool place.

Place the Russian salad in the dishes, garnishing it with the hard-boiled eggs, onions, gherkins sliced in two lengthways …

The meal can be eaten accompanied with slices of udder (do pé) or chitterling (dol landouye), traditional stuffed cow’s stomach.