Credit: Catholic Church, Luxembourg
Each year on Whit (Pentecost) Tuesday, thousands of people gather in the city of Echternach for the traditional "Sprangprëssessioun" (dancing procession).
Echternach, one of the oldest towns in Luxembourg and famous for its cultural and architectural heritage, was awarded the "European destination of excellence" in 2008 by the European Commission and, in 2010, the traditional dancing procession - the last remaining Roman Catholic dancing procession in Europe - was included in the UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The procession takes place in the streets of Echternach in honour of Saint Willibrord, a monk who founded Benedictine abbey at Echternach in 698, leading to his tomb being located in the crypt of the papal basilica of the abbey.
Tuesday 7 June 2022 also marks a special occasion as the dancing procession is back after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19 health restrictions. Pilgrims and participants start to arrive early in the morning to attend a Mass along the route of the procession and a Mass in the crypt of the papal basilica, followed by the pontificial fair.
Speaking with Chronicle.lu, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, Archbishop of Luxembourg said: "It's a real pleasure to make a pilgrimage to Echternach this year and to jump to the tomb of Saint Willibrord. The hopping procession is a part of our culture in Luxembourg and far beyond our borders, which reminds us that we can look forward, despite all our difficulties."
Attended annually by nearly 10,000 pilgrims from all over Europe in recent years, the participants of the dancing procession dressed in white shirts and dark trousers or skirts, are arranged in rows of four or five people while holding the ends of white handkerchiefs, dance in tune with a polka melody, hopping two steps to the left and two steps to the right and slowly moving forward.
The particular dancing custom dates back to the 16th century, when male pilgrims from Waxweiler started performing a "hopping dance" on the way to Echternach and, since the late 18th century, women also participated in the procession.
In 2022, the groups A-I will begin the procession in the main courtyard of the abbey while the dancing groups 1-37, accompanied with music groups, will pass through the procession route, a distance of about 1.5 kilometres, to meet back in the abbey courtyard. A final Mass with the Praise and the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, held by representatives of St Willibrord parish from Eisden and "Willibrordus Vrienden" of Limburg, for the procession celebrations to come to an end.
