The Namur stilt walkers are jousters on stilts from the city of Namur . The term stilt comes from the Walloon Namur chacheu , which designates the jouster on stilts. Active for more than 600 years, the Namur stilt walkers are one of the oldest group of waders in the world.

The fight 

The jousters are divided into two companies. Les Mélans and les Avresses .  The Mélans have black and yellow stilts while the Avresses have red and white ones. The traditional dress is the same for both brigades and consists of red and white.

During the fight, the jousters strive to bring down the opponents of the other group by using various methods: thrusts of the shoulder, parades of elbows, “côps d’pougn è stoumac”, blockages of the stilt, genuflections , …

The objective of the joust is simple: to bring down all the opposing jousters. Once on the ground, a jouster cannot indeed get back on his stilts. Most often, the bout ends when one of the two teams occupies the joust area alone.

However, it can happen that the stilt walkers offer a “bout-a-tot” (“until the end”). In this case the remaining jousters of the victorious brigade compete to designate the individual winner. The “bout-a-tot” is offered to honor a distinguished visitor or to thank a particularly warm audience. It is also systematic during the great fight of the golden stilt.