Binche Carnival pulls crowd from all over the world

Thousands of people from all over the world descended on the Belgian town of Binche this week to enjoy the music and atmosphere as they celebrated its annual carnival days.

Festivities in Binche, around 56 km from the capital Brussels, focused on Tuesday's grand parade, the center piece of the celebration.

Clad in straw-stuffed traditional costumes decorated with heraldic designs, the carnival's tradition performers, known as Gilles, threw blood oranges into the crowd.

Spectators jostled to catch one, as to do so is regarded as a symbol of luck and happiness.

According to carnival organizers, this year's was the most popular yet, with more than 100,000 revelers attending.

"People here are all in the mood for pleasure, and we can feel the local festival atmosphere. To some extent, it is similar to Chinese Spring Festival," said Wang Qifan, a Chinese student in Belgium.

American visitor Adam Severeid came to the carnival to see its unique traditions on display.

"I know that in general people in Europe celebrate carnivals a lot, and it's wonderful to get to experience the culture here in Belgium," he said.

Binche carnival, which can trace its origins to the Middle Ages, is one of Europe's oldest surviving carnivals, and in 2003 UNESCO proclaimed it a "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity."

"The aim of this ritual is to celebrate the end of the winter and to bring the spring, and to chase the evils and devils of the winter," said Clemence Mathieu, the director of the town's International Museum of Carnival and Mask.

Preparing for performance is a lengthy process, starting in January, as the performers have to choose costumes, rehearse the parade and more.

Besides the annual traditional elements, this year's carnival also included new celebrations to mark the 15th anniversary of its UNESCO recognition, including the release of movies about its folklore, a new CD of carnival music and a book called Paroles de Gilles (Words of Gilles).

Last November the carnival museum opened a new historical interpretation center, to organize more activities and introduce the carnival culture to the visitors from around the world.

"Since the UNESCO listing was added, it is internationally popular, so nowadays we have lots of tourists coming from Asia, America, Africa, from all over the world, that we didn't have before," said Mathieu.

Dong Yuwen and Chen Wenxin in Brussels contributed to this story.