FLThey call themselves the 'Dream Smugglers' and every year they bring their world of fantasy to the small Belgian town of Jemappes, in the Walloon region. This year was a funny easter breaking in snow and sun throughout the day. It was the first white easter in Belgium since 1982. But a spot of snow was not enough to stop the 4-day Jemappes carnival which has been going on for more than a century. The 'Smugglers', however, have only been around for three years, assaulting the town on Easter Monday (March 24) with giant dolls, cockerels and puppets. Artistic Director and 'Dream Smugglers' founder, Yves Couman, says the whole town is involved in getting the puppet parade off the ground. He says its about getting everyone involved, no matter what their social or economic background, on a single project together. Jemappes, in the Hainaut region, is a city of around 10,000 people and relied on coal mining before the industry collapsed in the 1960s. It has since suffered economically with a high rate of unemployment. "It's about making beautiful things together, meeting people, making people meet people who may not normally meet in daily life or who would not talk to each other in the same way because, all of us, when we finish work, we sit down together, we talk, we drink a cup of coffee, so it's a very strong social bond, and here, we are in a region which has suffered a lot, which is short on optimism, dynamism and energy and I think a parade like this one injects dyna...
