User:Atcovi/French/La Belgique

Bienvenue sur mon blog ! Je vais vous montrer les aspects de la Belgique ! Les Belges ont créé beaucoup d'événements intéressants, comme le Carnaval de Binche, le Carnaval d'Alost et Ducasse d'Ath. La culture de la Belgique comprend la nourriture, la musique, l'art, etc.

Festivals

 * Carnival of Aalst - The annual 3-day event festival held in Aalst, Belgium which requires a year worth's of preparations. The participates starts on Sunday and Shrove Tuesday, with thousands of floats flooding the streets of Aalst. Usually, these floats consist of imagery mocking politicians. The second day of the celebration consists of the "carnival" part of the festival, where games, such as "onion throws", are held. The last day is where the men and women dress up in abnormal clothing to continue the tradition of the poor class wearing "un-festivalish" clothing. In recent years, the imagery has taken a dark turn, with the carnival being criticized for its racist imagery. UNESCO has protested to these colorless celebrations.


 * Ducasse d'Ath - This parade is always held on the 4th Sunday in the month of August, where participants commemorate David's victory vs. Goliath (Christian beliefs). A poster of David and Goliath are readily shown when viewing these festivals, and most of the participants are dressed in typical Christian clothing.


 * Carnival of Binche - In the town of Binche, locals hold a festival on the days before Ash Wednesday. The festival has been held ever since the 14th century, where participants march and dance along the streets. The most notable of the participants are the Gilles. Typically, these people dress in the most colorful and noticeable dresses, such as ostrich feathers on their hats. The Gilles are from the ages 3 to 60 and are male. Oranges are also thrown during the festival as a way of good luck. They are thought to be of good luck because it is a gift from the Gilles.

Art
Art is quite popular in the country, showcasing thousands of years of rich art history. Dates go back to the Middle Ages of when artistic traditions were created and obeyed upon. Some modern-day arts include cartoons, sculptures, and architecture.

Cartoons
Belgium fell in love with cartoons in the early 20th-century. The best of these cartoons is known as the Adventures of Tintin, which showcases a young lad named Tintin who travels across the seven blues with Snowy, his wire fox terrier friend. The 24 series comic album was created in 1929 by an author named Georges Remi (who went under the pen name, Hergé). Ever since its creation, the cartoon had sold over 100 million copies worldwide (thus, in over 20 different languages!) and has become a symbol of Belgium comedy.

Sculptures
Many Belgian sculptors have lived throughout our time, one of them being Constantin Meunier. He is famous for bringing attention to the poor working conditions of industrial workers. His art not only managed to sweep the hearts of many, but also change modern art as we know it.

Architectures
Belgium enjoyed neoclassical architecture, the result of a new phase of architecture after the findings of Greco-Roman architecture in Italy, as soon as it made its first appearance in the country in the 1800s during the Austrian occupation. The Belgians seemed to have liked it very much, as it survived through WWII and the birth of a new Belgium. The type of architecture has gone through many phases, mainly by French influences.

Music
The music is made up of French, Dutch and African/other influences.

Many composers of the Franco-Flemish school were Belgian who grew up in the early 14/1500s. The Franco-Flemish school was a major development of European music at the time.

In the late 1400s/early 1500s, the immigration of the Dutch led to astounding developments in Belgian music. Orlande de Lassus, a Dutch immigrant to Belgium, became one of the leading composers of the 1500s. He was widely known as the "best-known" and "most widely admired musician" in the continent of Europe.

A widely known instrument, the saxophone, was created by the Belgian Adolphe Sax in the mid-1800s. The saxophone turned out to be one of the biggest set-pieces in jazz.

Django Reinhardt, a Belgian guitarist, developed into a national sensation for his jazz music. Toots Thielemans, known to be one of the greatest jazz harmonica players of all time, made music that was made available in films (Turkish Delight) and TV shows (Sesame Street).

A version of Pygmy, African music, was introduced in the 1990s by Congolese-Belgian women.