Mardi Gras returns to Belgian carnival town after COVID hiatus

By Associated Press | February 3, 2023 | Updated on February 3, 2023 at 2:30 pm

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Karl Kersten, right, and his wife Beatrice inside the family costume workshop in Binche, Belgium, Wednesday, Feb. 1. After a COVID-imposed hiatus, artisans are putting finishing touches on elaborate costumes and floats for the renowned Carnival in the Belgian town of Binche, a tradition that brings together young and old and is a welcome moment of celebration after a rough few years.
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Costumes labeled with names are stacked on a shelf at the Kersten family costume workshop in Binche, Belgium, Wednesday, Feb. 1.
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Quentin Kersten stands in the middle of a room full of ostrich feather hats in the Kersten family costume workshop in Binche, Belgium, Wednesday, Feb. 1.
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Lace collars sit on a windowsill inside the Kersten family costume workshop in Binche, Belgium, Wednesday, Feb. 1.
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Quentin Kersten watches as a worker walks by with a stack of costumes in the family costume workshop in Binche, Belgium, Wednesday, Feb. 1.
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Karl Kersten sits at his sewing machine inside the family costume workshop in Binche, Belgium, Wednesday, Feb. 1.
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Beatrice Kersten works at her sewing machine inside the family costume workshop in Binche, Belgium, Wednesday, Feb. 1.
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Patterns and a triangle ruler hang on a wall inside the family costume workshop in Binche, Belgium, Wednesday, Feb. 1.
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A woman works on a Gilles of Binche costume at a sewing machine in the Kersten family costume workshop in Binche, Belgium, Wednesday, Feb. 1.
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A woman is surrounded by costume elements as she works on details of a Gilles of Binche costume in the Kersten family costume workshop in Binche, Belgium, Wednesday, Feb. 1.
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A woman measures out the pants of a Gilles of Binche costume in the Kersten family costume workshop in Binche, Belgium, Wednesday, Feb. 1.
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A woman works on details of a Gilles of Binche costume in the Kersten family costume workshop in Binche, Belgium, Wednesday, Feb. 1.
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Christian Mostade, 88, speaks at the Museum of the Mask in Binche, Belgium, Wednesday, Feb. 1.
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A Gilles of Binche throws an orange during the Binche carnival, in Binche, Belgium, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013.