I love oddball festivals. One of my favorite memories of Belgium was the “Kattenstoet”, a festival held every 3 years in Ypres.

It supposedly commemorates a time in the 15th century when rats got out of hand in the Cloth Tower where woven goods created locally were stored before shipping. The town locked cats in the tower to combat the problem, but then, well, the cats (and their kittens) got out of hand. The answer (I was told) was for someone who drew the short straw to climb the Cloth Tower Belfry and throw the cats off the roof. [Read more →]