Ostend Carnival and the Dead Rat Ball Coach Holiday
Ostend Carnival and the Dead Rat Ball Coach Holiday
Friday 01 - Monday 04 March 2013
4 days / 3 nights B&B - town centre hotels
only £159
Party Rio-style at Belgium's craziest masked ball, Dead Rat's Ball, or Bal du Rat Mort. This adventure in glamour and masquerade began in Montmartre, Paris in 1896 when a group of rambunctious men, all members of Circle Coecilia, got together for an evening out.
Moved by the Parisian cabaret, then titillated by Au Moulin Rouge and Le Ciel, they wound up in Le Rat Mort Café, a bohemian haunt for writers, artists and ladies of the night. To commemorate their exquisite Parisian shenanigans, an annual ball was staged in Ostend, Belgium, an event that was both a fundraising benefit and a great excuse to party.
Now, years later, the madness ensues. The town of Ostend even celebrates this tradition with a parade, and there is rumored to be a clog-throwing event in the town square. But the real energy and excitement is inside the glittering Ostend Kursaal Casino, where masked and costumed high-society guests mix with some of the world's hottest transvestites. It's a party that lasts well into the morning, and if weren't for the large glasses of locally brewed beer, you'd forget you're in Belgium amid all the cabernet glitz.
The Ostend Carnival and Dead Rat Ball attracts thousands of visitors every year. Enter into the party atmosphere as Ostend comes alive in colour. The tame can opt for evening dress, though the brave could win the coveted best dressed prize. If you do not wish to go to the Casino for the actual ball, you will still have a blast in the many pubs and bars in the centre of Ostend as the parades and carnival come to town
