Walking Dender

Yesterday evening the official start of the Dendermonde Fair was given. This Fair is a tradition of ages and lasts for one week. All kind of events take place during this week, with the finale on Thursday evening with the Procession of Giants.

Six years ago, the local horeca (short for hotel-restaurant-café) organised Walking Dender for the first time. It's an event situated near the boards of the old Dender. In the 1970s the local government decided to cut off part of this river and lead it around the town, to mound in the bigger Schelde - leaving the cut off part running through the heart of town like in the old days. In summer you can make kayak tours or boat tours on it.

The local restaurants, caterers and brewers set up stalls with their specialities and you can taste them for a small price. We had just eaten, so we did not taste any of the main dishes, but we bought some home-made ice cream and a pint of a new kind of beer (a golden triple ale) brewed locally. It tasted a bit of fruit first, and then you got a bitter taste which asked for more...

Due to the nice weather, it was very crowded. You could run over the heads and I'm sure the venders sold a lot of their produce!