Carnival of Binche

Before dawn on Shrove Tuesday, the lanes of the Belgian town of Binche echo with drums and the stamp of wooden clogs. Thousands of Gilles in wax masks and straw humps gather house by house, then swap in the afternoon for one-metre ostrich-feather hats and toss oranges into the crowd one by one. It is a UNESCO-recognised Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and one of Europe's strangest, most enchanting carnivals.