Germany – Saudi Arabia – Austria – Belgium – United Arab Emirates – Spain – France – Hungary – Italy – Kazakhstan – Morocco – Mongolia – Pakistan – Portugal – Qatar – Syrian Arab Republic – Republic of Korea – Czechia - Falconry, A Living Human Heritage

"Originally a method of obtaining food, the practice of falconry has evolved over time to be more associated with nature conservation, cultural heritage and social engagement within and amongst communities. Following their own set of traditions and ethical principles, falconers train, fly and breed birds of prey (which includes besides falcons, birds such as eagles and hawks) developing a bond with them and becoming their main source of protection. The practice, present in many countries around the world, may vary regarding certain aspects, for example the type of equipment used but the methods remain similar. Falconers regard themselves as a group and may travel weeks at a time engaging in the practice, while in the evenings recounting stories of the day together. They consider falconry as providing a connection to the past, particularly for communities for which the practice is one of their few remaining links with their natural environment and traditional culture. Knowledge and skills are transmitted in an intergenerational manner within families by formal mentoring, apprenticeship or training in clubs and schools. In some countries, a national examination must be passed in order to become a falconer. Field meets and festivals provide opportunities for communities to share knowledge, raise awareness and promote diversity."

Source: UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage

Collected: Austria, France, Mongolia, Qatar, UAE, Germany (6 countries)

Missing: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Pakistan, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Syria (missing 13 countries)

Postcard 1 - Falconry in France 

Spectacle de Fauconnerie Equestre was held in Provins. Thanks to Sylvie of France who went to see this performance and bought this postcard.

Postcard 2 - Falconry in Mongolia

A postcard of Mongolian falconry. Falconry is now listed in 2010 as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in Mongolia, France, UAE and other countries. This is my 3rd postcard sent from Mongolia. Thanks to Cliffe.

Postcard 3 - Falconry in Qatar

Falconry in Qatar. Thanks to Ashraf of Qatar.

Postcard 4A - Falconry of United Arab Emirates

Falcons are important in UAE. Falcon is seen in the UAE stamps used. Thanks to Cazz of UK for sending this card from Ras Al Khaimal, one of the seven emirates of UAE.

Postcard 4B - Falconry in UAE

Awesome postcard of falconry of UAE. Thanks to Jean-Pierre France for mailing from Sharjah, UAE.

Postcard 4C - Falconry in UAE 

Nice falcon postcard with matching falcon stamps. Thanks to Jean-Pierre of France.

Postcard 4D - Falconry in UAE 

Falcon Center, Dubai, United Arab Emirates with special Dubai Expo 2020 cancelation. Thanks to Jean-Pierre of France. Postmarked March 23, 2022 and arrived on April 1, 2022.

Postcard 4E - Falconry in UAE 

A nice Falconry postcard of Dubai, UAE. Thanks to Jean-Pierre of France.

Postcard 5 - Falconry in Germany 

The falconry motif of a staircase tile of Falkenlust Hunting Lodge, Bruhl, Germany. Falconru is a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in Germany. Thanks to Marcel of Germany.

Belgium - Procession of the Holy Blood in Bruges

Each spring, 30,000 to 45,000 spectators gather in the heart of the Belgian city of Bruges to watch the Procession of the Holy Blood on Ascension Day, forty days after Easter. The colourful pageant dates back to the thirteenth century, when a citizen of Bruges is said to have brought the Relic of the Holy Blood of Jesus Christ back from the Second Crusade. Led by the thirty city notables of the Brotherhood of the Holy Blood and accompanied by brass bands, more than 1,700 citizens on foot, in carts or on horseback perform stories from the Old Testament, the life of Jesus and the history of Bruges. Then, various civic groups venerate the relic and the procession concludes with a prayer ceremony, performed in several languages to accommodate the international audience. For centuries, the ceremony has played an important role in expressing the identity of Bruges’s inhabitants and in facilitating encounters with people from outside the city. Participants are a representative cross-section of ages, families and communities. Some inhabitants have participated for forty or fifty years, and émigrés often return for ‘Bruges’s Finest Day’. The Procession is a vibrant example of how a collective ceremony can unite a city through ritual enactment of its history and beliefs.


Source: UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage

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Belgium - Krakelingen and Tonnekensbrand, end-of-winter bread and fire feast at Geraardsbergen

The city of Geraardsbergen holds its annual market on the first Monday in March and celebrates the end of winter on Sunday eight days earlier, with the festival of Krakelingen and Tonnekensbrad. In the days before, shopkeepers decorate their windows, bakers bake special ring-shaped breads called krakelingen, and schoolteachers recount a tale explaining the origins of the ritual. On the day of the feast, a thousand-strong parade leaves the church of Hunnegem, led by the church dean and city councillors in historical costume. Carrying bread, wine, fish and fire, the participants make their way to Oudenberg Hill, climbing to the Holy Mary Chapel on the hilltop. Inside, the dean blesses the krakelingen and recites a prayer. The religious and secular authorities then drink wine from a sixteenth-century silver goblet containing tiny live fish, which has recently become a controversial custom. They then throw ten thousand krakelingen into the crowd, one containing a winning ticket. The prize is a golden jewel, especially created for the event. At night people gather again on the hill to light a wooden barrel, the Tonnekensbrand, to celebrate the arrival of spring. Spectators carry burning torches back down the hill to bring light to the city. The festive ritual yields a strong sense of continuity and historical awareness for its participants, evoking historical events and legends passed on from generation to generation.


Source: UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage

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Belgium - Houtem Jaarmarkt, annual winter fair and livestock market at Sint-Lievens-Houtem

Houtem Jaarmarkt is an annual trading fair taking place in the village of Sint-Lievens-Houtem in the south-east of the Belgian province of East Flanders. Every year, on 11 and 12 November, the village becomes the site of the country’s last substantial open-air market for trading cattle and purebred horses. Hundreds of dealers proudly display their animals before judges, fellow traders, farmers and thousands of enthusiastic visitors. People travel from across the country to visit the five hundred stallholders and other traders: experiencing, seeing, touching and buying agricultural machinery or animals, and witnessing transactions that still retain old negotiating techniques such as handclapping. With more than six hundred horses and twice as many cows up for sale, the fair is a crucial date in the calendar and identity of professionals in the livestock trade. Each year a different foreign region is invited to present its attractions, regional products and craftsmanship at the fair, enabling the livestock breeders, farmers and artisans of different nations to meet and interact. The fair and market have a huge impact on the local community with private houses turned into public venues where one can enjoy music, drinks and food. For these two days the whole village is transformed into one open, welcoming space.


Source: UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage

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Belgium - Programme of cultivating ludodiversity: safeguarding traditional games in Flanders

Ludodiversity refers to the wide diversity in games, sports, physical exercises, dances and acrobatics. The non-governmental organization Sportimonium, together with local communities and associations, has taken measures to safeguard the heritage of games and sports in Flanders, Belgium, including twenty-three types of traditional games, among them forms of shooting games, bowl games, throwing games and ball games. Safeguarding measures undertaken by Sportimonium include support to specialized and umbrella organizations, publications, festivals, demonstrations, exchanges of expertise, promotion activities, loan services providing people with traditional games equipment, and a Traditional Games Park. The basis for the programme is systematic documentation and research: information on traditional games and sports has been gathered worldwide and can be consulted in a documentation centre in the Sportimonium. Another key safeguarding strategy is promoting awareness among players about the cultural significance of their intangible cultural heritage. Special attention is devoted to attracting new members, especially young people and women. The model of Sportimonium can be applied elsewhere. One advantage of the programme is its modular design, divided into different phases that can be implemented according to local, regional, national and international contexts.


Source: UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage

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Belgium - Leuven age set ritual repertoire

The Leuven age set ritual repertoire is a rite of passage in a man’s life centring on the ten years leading up to his fiftieth birthday. For men living in or around Leuven, Belgium, a journey of socio-cultural and philanthropic activities and ceremonies commences at the age of forty with the forming of an age set and culminates at the age of fifty on Abraham Day, with a celebration in the city’s central park around the statue of the prophet Abraham. Each age set chooses its own medal, flag and uniform, and is fostered by a ‘godfather’, who belongs to an age set formed ten years before. The members celebrate and embrace life throughout the decade and beyond. An age set only disappears when its last member passes away. The age sets are characterized by intergenerational values of openness, friendship, solidarity and commitment to their age set and to the city. Differences of descent, rank or social status are of no importance, neither are political, philosophical or religious convictions. The only conditions for participation are to be a man and to be born in the same year. Women however increasingly take part as godmothers and supporters. The ritual stimulates identity and a sense of continuity for both the city and the members, and has become a strong part of Leuven’s urban culture. Today, fifty-four age sets exist.


Source: UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage

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Belgium - Marches of Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse

The Marches of Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse are a major component of the cultural identity of the eponymous region found between the rivers of Sambre and Meuse in Wallonia, Belgium. The marches commemorate the dedication of churches of many villages and small towns honouring the Saint to whom the religious buildings are dedicated. The whole villages and towns participate. The escorted processions consist of several companies, based on a military model, and each company group tens, even hundreds of marchers. The participants dress in military uniforms, forming one or more companies that escort the religious procession. A committee and/or a statutory body manage each company, organizing the course of the march and ensuring the correct formations. Young people march alongside their parents in the Young Guard or other companies. The transmission of traditions occurs orally, often within the family circle, but also during gatherings, meetings, banquets or balls necessary for the organization of the march. Dynasties of fifes and drums have been created that transmit their knowledge, songs and music to new musicians. Similarly, drum and fife manufacturers and dozens of artisan clothes designers pass on their craftsmanship in reconstituting and creating instruments, costumes, flags and accessories. The marches play a key role in enhancing integration, assembling men and women from different backgrounds and promoting social cohesion.


Source: UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage

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Belgium - Safeguarding the carillon culture: preservation, transmission, exchange and awareness-raising

The art of making music with bells (carillon) is performed by carillonneurs, traditionally during market and festive days. The programme to safeguard carillon culture exists in seventy-six cities and villages of Belgium and in thirty countries worldwide. The primary objectives are to preserve the components of historic carillon culture (practices, repertoire, instruments, music, oral and written history), and to ensure the continuity and sustainable development of carillon music as a living heritage that fosters cultural identity and social cohesion. Safeguarding efforts have also focused on preserving and restoring historic carillons with many formerly silent carillons now once more active. Transmission is secured by a number of educational initiatives, of which the Mechelen carillon school is the most important. Efforts have also been undertaken to revitalize the carillon, including promotion of new arrangements, compositions and genres of music. The programme combines respect for tradition with a willingness to innovate, constantly seeking new ways to safeguard carillon culture in contemporary society. It also promotes proven best practices, as well as a deep respect for local players in the field, building on cooperation among actors.


Source: UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage

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Belgium - Ommegang of Brussels, an annual historical procession and popular festival

Ommegang of Brussels, an annual historical procession and popular festival takes place annually over two evenings in July in the historic centre of Brussels. The celebration begins with a crossbow competition and a ceremony in Sablon Church. In the surrounding streets, various groups form a large procession. The procession follows a 1.5 km route through the city to the Grand-Place, where the groups join the Magistrate of Brussels and bearers of various forms of living heritage. Together, they march around and some groups partake in an organic performance that has evolved since 1930. Having originated as a religious event in 1348, the tradition declined in the 18th century and the modern Ommegang was then recreated in 1928-1930 based on descriptions of the procession Charles V attended in 1549. Nowadays, the tradition has evolved into a festive, local heritage event. Among the participants are various groups of volunteers who meet and prepare their roles together, encouraging younger members to get involved. These groups have become club associations which, during the Ommegang in early July, meet and socialize with other groups. Children attend with their parents, and many people have been involved for forty or fifty years. The viability of the practice is constantly monitored, and the association overseeing the Ommegang is continuously engaged in preparing and promoting the next event.


Source: UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage

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Belgium - Namur stilt jousting

Namur stilt jousting is a tradition dating back to the early fifteenth century. During a stilt joust, participants attempt to knock all the members of the opposing team to the ground. Stilt jousters are grouped into two teams: the Mélans, with yellow and black stilts, representing the old town, and the Avresses, with red and white stilts, representing the new town and neighbouring villages. However, today applicants join a team based on affinity rather than on location. Each stilt joust starts with a procession made up of the two teams, preceded by their flags, drums and fife-player. The drums herald the procession, set the rhythm of the march and energize the joust. Stilt jousts usually take place during festivals in the streets and squares of Namur. Entry is free, and spectators gather around the jousting zone and cheer on their favourite team and jousters. Jousters range from 7 to 70 years old, and although historically all-male, in 2018 the stilt jousting association (called Les Échasseurs Namurois) opened up training to women and girls. Stilt jousting is a strong marker of Namur’s identity and is seen as a factor of cohesion and integration for the inhabitants of the city.