The carnival of La Louvière is an important folk event and a holiday for all the residents of the city. Celebrated since the 19th century, it is known locally as Laetare and lasts for 3 days during Lent, from Sunday to Tuesday. It is famous for its extraordinary costumes prepared by the inhabitants of the Walloon Region. The most recognisable character of the event is Gille, a role played by many men and boys. The colourful parade is attended by many groups in original hand-made costumes. There are also the distinctive enormous puppets that Kalisz residents could see during the 2018 Kalisz City Day, including the figure representing our city - Lucjan Fryderyk.

Mayor Krystian Kinastowski, his deputy Mateusz Podsadny, and the city secretary Marcin Cieloszyk visited the Belgian city on March 18-22 to take part in this traditional celebration.

On this occasion, the Mayor of Kalisz was welcomed into the ranks of the Companions of the She-Wolf, to which many of the city's notables belonged. This is yet another interesting tradition linked to the legend of the founding of La Louvière, reminiscent of the story of the founding of Rome.

During the visit, the Kalisz delegates also met with representatives of the local Polish community, Edward and Michał Janowski, who have been involved in cooperation between our cities for many years and have been awarded the title of Honorary Friends of Kalisz.