Douai, Nord-Pas de Calais, France

Les Fêtes de Gayant (Gayant Festival), Douai, Nord-Pas de Calais, France. Les Fêtes de Gayant is an annual festival taking place in July, which dates back to the 1530s and centres around a ritual procession with huge wicker figures (Gayant, the largest of this 'giant' family; his wife and three children), along with a carnival-like parade with a variety of other participants, music and floats. Les Fêtes de Gayant in Douai is inscribed on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, along with several other traditional processions with huge effigies of giants or dragons in France and Belgium. © Rudolf Abraham