The Legend
of the Doudou
Saint George, the dragon, and the story of a city that re-enacts its founding myth every year, for almost seven centuries.
Mons, in the year of grace 1349
TheBlackDeathisravagingEurope.InMons,thepeoplemakeapromisetoSaintWaudru,theirprotector:ifthecityisspared,theywillcarryhershrineinprocessionthroughthetowneveryyear.Monsisspared.Thepromisestillholds.
Every Trinity Sunday, the Ducasse of Mons wakes the city. At the heart of this nearly eight-centuries-old tradition, an epic battle is re-enacted on the Grand-Place: the Lumeçon.
Saint George, the city's patron knight, takes on a dragon — that the people of Mons affectionately call "the Doudou". They probably didn't know it, but that nickname would write their tradition into the world's collective memory.
Before the dragon, the shrine
Saturdayevening,7.30pm.SaintWaudru'sshrine,whichsleepsallyearabovethechanceloftheCollegiateChurch,slowlydescendstowardsthenave.Monsholdsitsbreath.
Sunday is Trinity Sunday. Long before the noon battle, the city goes through an even older ritual. The shrine is brought out at dawn, then carefully placed on the Golden Coach, a Baroque carriage from 1781 plated with fine gold and adorned with sculpted angels.
The procession leaves Sainte-Waudru Collegiate Church at 9.30am. For two hours, the Golden Coach crosses Mons to cheers, escorted by the brotherhoods, the authorities and the crowd. Then comes the return. The ramp up to the Collegiate is steep. Very steep.
The Shrine
The reliquary kept high above the chancel. Brought down in a ceremony on the Saturday evening before Trinity Sunday.
The Golden Coach
1781, oak plated with fine gold, sculpted angels, more than one and a half tonnes. The most prestigious processional carriage in Wallonia.
The Climb
The people of Mons themselves pull the one-and-a-half-tonne Coach up the steep ramp of the Collegiate. Without stopping.
"If the Golden Coach makes it to the top without a pause, Mons will have a good year. If it stops, the city shudders. That's the omen."
Then noon approaches. And the wait tips over.
The battle on the Grand-Place
Noonstrikes.SaintWaudru'sshrinereturnstothecollegiate.OntheGrand-Placepackedwithpeople,thewaitiselectric.Andsuddenly,theyappear.
Small yellow leather dogs, they open the battle by spinning around the Doudou to provoke it.
Hooded in red, bladders in hand, they harass the dragon and tap the crowd to clear the way.
Dressed in white, armed with staves, they hold the sacred circle at the centre of the Grand-Place — the "circle of victory".
The knight on horseback, lance in hand. He will turn several times, faced by the Doudou, before delivering the final blow with the pistol.
"The battle lasts about thirty minutes. Thirty minutes during which the crowd, on its feet, sings "El Doudou, oh oh" at the top of its lungs. Thirty minutes when Mons becomes a single body that vibrates."
The lucky hairs
Duringthebattle,theDoudou'stail,coveredinlonghairs,sweepsoverthecrowd.Thosewhomanagetotearoffafragmentwillkeep,itissaid,ayearofgoodluck.
A year of luck
The hair protects its holder until the next Ducasse.
Three generations
Whole families pass the ritual down, parents and children alike.
Heritage of humanity
Inscribed by UNESCO on 25 November 2005.
And the Warmup Doudou?
It'sourwarm-up.AfewdaysbeforetheDucasse,webringthepeopleofMonstogethertomakethecityvibrateearlier,andwegive100%oftheprofitstocharitiesthatfighttheirowndragons.
The metaphor is clear. Saint George faces the dragon: we face the difficulties the children of our region run into — families in hardship, disabilities, school dropout, precarity.
Table Ronde 06 de Mons was born in 1953, in the same city, around the same Grand-Place. Our Warmup Doudou is our contribution to a fight that isn't folklore, but daily life.
Adopt · Adapt · Improve. Like Saint George, we don't wait for the dragon to leave.
Sunday 31 May 2026
Le Doudou est passé. Rendez-vous l'an prochain.
Meet on the Grand-Place of Mons around 12.30pm to watch the battle. The procession starts at 9.30am from Sainte-Waudru Collegiate Church.
And our Warmup Doudou takes place 3 days before, on Thursday 28 May 2026, the perfect warm-up before the Sunday's buzz.
