Event : Folklore

Betrayal Monday and Lost Monday - A Tournai Tradition

Opening periods
- Event planned for the month of January 2014
Address:
7500 TOURNAIBelgium
MAPS: Google Maps

On the Monday following the Epiphany, the people of Tournai eat the famous Tournai-style rabbit. Try this exquisite traditonal meal in Tournai 07/01.

At the start of the meal, the "King's tickets" are drawn to assign the various roles to the guests, including that of the "King". Note that every time that the king drinks, the other guests must follow suit!

What are Betrayal Monday and Lost Monday?

Lost Monday gets its name from the fact that people used to take a day of unpaid holiday to celebrate. It was, therefore, a lost day in terms of the people's salary.

As for Betrayal Monday, it is such an old tradition that no-one can remember exactly which betrayal it concerns, even if the earliest written records date back to the 13th century.

"In Tournai, to celebrate this festival properly, he who has no rabbit, has nothing!"

To celebrate Lost Monday authentically, a Lost Monday kit exists. In it you will find all the essentials:

The history of Lost Monday,
The King's tickets,
the evening's schedule to celebrate Lost Monday by the book (a succession of meals with the recipe for "Tournai-style Rabbit" and the recipe for "Tournai Salade", drawing the King's tickets),
A cork,
A karaoke DVD with the songs "L' Lapin du Lundi Perdu" (The Lost Monday Rabbit) and "L' Lundi Parjuré" (Betrayal Monday).

More information is available at the Tourist Office and at the Folklore Museum.