Various organisations and municipalities across Belgium enjoyed playing pranks on Monday on the occasion of April Fools' Day.
This historic day – celebrated in countries worldwide on 1 April – consists of pulling practical jokes, pranks and hoaxes on friends and strangers. It is unclear how the tradition began, but the first definite reference of April Fools' allegedly comes from a 1561 Flemish comical poem by Eduard de Dene, in which a nobleman sends his servant back and forth on fruitless errands, thereby coining the term a 'fool's errand'.
This centuries-old tradition was certainly kept alive in Belgium this year, with people across the country playing practical jokes on Monday. Brussels Beer Project, for instance, announced their latest innovation, the 'Brewslide', on social media, as reported by Bruzz.
"We're super excited to announce the grand opening of the world's longest urban waterslide, starting from the upper level of our Port Sud brewery and landing right into the sparkling waters of the Brussels canal! Get ready to slide into summer with us on 1 April!"
Credit: Brussels Beer Project
Brussels Councillor for Green Spaces Zoubida Jellab (Ecolo-Groen) also launched her new system of recycling dog faeces to grow green energy. "Being a dog owner AND doing more for the planet is possible," she said, posting a picture of bright purple bin bags on Facebook. "Made up of nitrogen, fresh droppings have real environmental qualities," she added.
Brussels Mobility Minister Elke Van den Brandt (Groen) also drew inspiration from her four-legged friends as she announced the launch of the 'cat tram' in collaboration with public transport operator STIB. "We hope to further expand this concept to the entire STIB network in the near future, to make Brussels an even more liveable and pleasant city."
In Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, it even became possible to get a tattoo of the municipality's logo at the town hall for just €5, but with "only" a choice of three designs. "If you have the municipality in your blood and want to get tattooed in complete safety, you are welcome to do so from Tuesday onwards," authorities said.
Elke Van den Brandt's 'cat tram' and Woluwe-Saint-Lambert's municipality tattoos.
Elsewhere in Belgium, local Flemish association Streekvereniging Zuidrand introduced their new Belgian chocolates in the shape of bum cheeks as "culinary heritage", VRT reported. The creamy, round 'Aartselaars aarsjes' filled with brown cream looked convincing, but it soon became clear they were AI-generated images.
The Antwerp police also decided to start transporting arrested individuals by bike carts. "With this new asset, the bicycle team no longer has to wait for a combi when they have to transport a detainee to the police station," the police said on social media – although a closer look at the number place soon gave them away.
Credit: Politie Antwerpen
The Kempen fire brigade also joined in the fun and said residents could request a 'self-extinguishing kit' for emergencies, including a 20-metre hose, fire helmet, breathing apparatus with a mask and a hand axe. However, the brigade quickly clarified after a few hours that it was a joke and that people should still call 112 in the event of a fire.
Further afield
Different countries have historically different ways of pulling pranks. In France, Belgium, Italy and French-speaking Switzerland, for example, celebrations include pinning a paper fish onto the backs of as many people as possible without being noticed, and shouting Poisson d'Avril' or Pesce d'Aprile ("April fish!" in English).
In England, meanwhile, jokes may only happen until noon, at which point pranksters have to come clean. For decades, British broadcaster the BBC has broadcast outlandish news stories on 1 April, some of which include flying penguins and spaghetti harvesting.
The Dutch traditionally catapult herring at people, shouting haringgek ("herring fool"), while Germans tell outrageous stories to fool their friends, called an Aprilscherz. Successful pranks supposedly even bring good luck to perpetrators for the year in Greece.
In Spain, April Fools' is actually celebrated on 28 December and known as Día de los Inocentes (Holy Innocents' Day).
