Overview
Namur stilt jousting is a tradition dating back to the early fifteenth century. During a stilt joust, participants attempt to knock all the members of the opposing team to the ground. Stilt jousters are grouped into two teams: the Mélans, with yellow and black stilts, representing the old town, and the Avresses, with red and white stilts, representing the new town and neighbouring villages. However, today applicants join a team based on affinity rather than on location. Each stilt joust starts with a procession made up of the two teams, preceded by their flags, drums and fife-player. The drums herald the procession, set the rhythm of the march and energize the joust. Stilt jousts usually take place during festivals in the streets and squares of Namur. Entry is free, and spectators gather around the jousting zone and cheer on their favourite team and jousters. Jousters range from 7 to...
This record is imported from the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage public dataset as discovery metadata. ARED has not independently verified community authority, access protocols or local naming beyond the source record.
Community and Authority
- Communities
- Belgium
- Languages
- Not specified in UNESCO dataset
- Cultural territories
- Belgium
- Countries
- Belgium
How the System Works
Namur stilt jousting is a tradition dating back to the early fifteenth century. During a stilt joust, participants attempt to knock all the members of the opposing team to the ground. Stilt jousters are grouped into two teams: the Mélans, with yellow and black stilts, representing the old town, and the Avresses, with red and white...
Sources and Evidence
Imported from UNESCO DataHub dataset ich001. Field-level provenance is retained in the record metadata.
Field-Level Provenance
- title
- UNESCO DataHub field title_en
- preferredTitle
- UNESCO DataHub field title_fr
- summary
- UNESCO DataHub field description_en
- type
- UNESCO DataHub fields type_of_element_en and type_acronym
- countries
- UNESCO DataHub field countries, ISO codes resolved with ISO-3166 regional metadata
- categories
- ARED category inference from UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names and title
- relationships
- UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names, type fields and World Heritage links
- sourceUrl
- UNESCO DataHub field http_url_en
- rights
- UNESCO DataHub dataset metadata license and license_url
Original Source Metadata
Why This Record Is Credible
This public record is connected to 1 source and has been labelled Source Supported. ARED separates evidence sources from cultural authority so users can see both provenance and review limits.
Cultural Access
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Relationships
Review and Corrections
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