The Ommegang procession in Brussels

Every year the especially magnificent Ommegang (Walkabout) of 1549 (special because it was performed for the Emperor Charles V) is recreated in Brussels on the first Thursday in July and the previous Tuesday. There are two ways of enjoying it. One way is to spend the afternoon in the Royal Quarter where 1,500 participants don their historical apparel and prepare for the procession amid the jousting, the eating and drinking, and the medieval village. The other is to go to the Grand' Place at 9pm to watch the historic spectacle complete with the battle of the men on very tall stilts. Or you can do it all by following the procession from the upper town to the lower. Here are moments from the last two Ommegangs including a visit by American jousters. www.ommegang.be