Limoux: Return to Carnival

Our blog post for 6 February describes our first trip to Limoux, a town of 9000 people nestled in a narrow valley about 20 miles south of Carcassonne. In the pre-Lenten season, the townspeople of Limoux celebrate their own distinctive form of Carnival. This weekend, we decided to go back and experience the event again.

Two troupes of costumed and masked "fecos" dancers enter the town square from opposite sides. Each troupe is accompanied by its own brass band that follows along behind playing a distinctive (and seemingly endless) tune. The masked celebrants move in a clockwise procession under the arcades around the square. Sometimes they dance with onlookers or shower them with confetti. This late-winter ceremony culminates with the ritual burning of the Winter King a few weeks from now.
http://picasaweb.google.com/trucknmama/Limoux2#