These giants dance in the streets... but someone has to keep them going all year round

In Cassel, Douai, Mons or Dendermonde, parties can have gigantic effigies as stars. Familiar characters, legendary figures or animals take place in the processions. Their size impresses, but their importance is also due to the local stories they represent.

The processions follow rituals specific to the cities. In Mons, the battle of Saint George and the dragon is staged; in Dendermonde, the horse Bayard refers to the cycle of Charlemagne. The representation is real, even when the characters belong to a legend.

Before their public appearance, these giants require manufacture, repair and maintenance. Several techniques meet in the same effigy, and residents participate in the preparations. The silhouette that seems to come alive during a party is therefore also the visible part of a work continued well beyond the passage of the procession.