in brussels in belgium, the main carnival procession is held in the grande place, the town square in front of the gothic town hall with its huge tower. every part of the procession is ruled by a tradition, but some of the traditions are so old that no-one remembers what they mean anymore. at the beginning of the procession is a large group of people dressed in beautiful costumes of silk and velvet, who act out an historic scene of the coming of the king of spain and his royal court to brussels 500 years ago. when they have taken their seats, there comes an amazing procession which includes stilt walkers, fire eaters, goldilocks with a dancing bear, a mad camel, a wizard, lots of men in huge feathery headdresses, and the archangel michael whose job is to frighten the devil. these characters are traditional to brussels. in every city, the characters that take part are different.