That. Belgium is known for hosting the most absurd and surreal competitions imaginable, from cherry pie eating contests to Christmas tree throwing.
Because. This weekend, a few hours before the visit of half a dozen European leaders to Ostend for the North Sea Summit, they contested the European gull crowing championship in a neighboring coastal town.
The Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander de Croo, welcomed the leaders of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark, Luxembourg and Norway on Monday in Ostend for the second edition of what they have called the North Sea Summit. The objective was to talk about renewable energies, the energy transition and how to continue minimizing dependence on Russia and other conflicting suppliers. But although the issue is vital, and the area has not seen so much mandatory since in 1866, at the request of Prim, the pact to overthrow Isabel II was signed, the truth is that the attention it has generated has been scant. Not because the Russian invasion has exhausted the population, but because on Monday there was still a hangover from one of the most interesting, close and attractive competitions of the season: the European Seagull Squawking Championship, which took place the day before in the nearby town of De Panne.
Actually, what the seagulls do is crotor, at least since Towards Other Lands, a poem by M. Zurita, was published in 1912, but the jury probably didn’t know that. There were more than 50 entrants, receiving up to a maximum of 15 points for vocal skills and five for impetus in imitation, costumes and flapping talent. The idea is from the Flanders Marine Institute with the quixotic objective of cleaning up the image of birds, which have a fully justified reputation as heavyweights and thieves of sandwiches and ice cream.
A contest of this type perfectly synthesizes the idea of ??a good weekend in Belgium, as it combines shouting in public, drinking beer, making a fool of yourself and competing in the most absurd things that human beings can imagine. Last week, for example, its fantastic film festival was held in Brussels, and the show is total. Not only the makeup of vampires and demons, the costumes or even the projections, but the lack of control in the rooms. The fans howl when animals come out, they applaud wildly when the good guys get away with it, and they have habits as healthy as chanting each sponsor and remembering out loud with a “la porte” every time during the broadcast a character leaves open the door of a room or a car. The spirit is such that on Saturday it was possible to see the director and the protagonist of the Spanish Objetos, Jorge Dorado and Álvaro Morte, integrate themselves flatly with sonorous “the door, pussy”, in their own scenes.
The fact is that Belgians are capable of being in cafes, bars or restaurants for hours without making a sound, without exchanging a phrase with their partners, without breaking the calm with a sigh, but they give their all when it comes to of a bullshit There are few things more boring than watching a sports broadcast on TV, because it seems that they are reading the prospectus of a medicine, and few things more fun than attending or participating in those parties. In the annual Christmas tree throwing championship, every January. The Cornesse Festival, where cherry pies are eaten to bursting and consistently won by the legendary Jean-Lou swallows it all. The vinkenzetting, which is counting the calls of a finch locked in a box. The Dinant International Regatta, to cross the Meuse in original boats. Or 24 hours of the puzzle, which requires no explanation. As they said in Besson’s Le Grand Bleu: “How do you recognize a Belgian in a submarine? He’s the only one with a parachute.”
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
