In the news: Witch Babbe flies over ‘witch village’ Beselare

Article from Het Nieuwsblad

The witch village Beselare will get a real flying witch next year. A local ballooning company is having one made in the shape of the Beselare witch Babbe, who will literally fly around the world.

Balloonist Johan Vander Meiren invested this year in a new shed at the Polderhoek business park on Kortekeerstraat, which provides shelter for five professional hot air balloons.

“A balloon in a special shape, we didn’t have that yet,” he says. “Since the company is based in Beselare, we wanted to design a balloon in the shape of a witch. It took two years to fully develop the first idea manually into the final design, which has specific requirements regarding aerodynamics. Additionally, the balloon must obviously look like a witch.”

Added value for the annual Witch Parade

The balloon is being built at Cameron Balloons in Bristol, UK. “We looked for the name of the witch very locally. The company headquarters is located on Markizaatstraat, the former cradle of many legends and witch stories. We chose the story of Babbe, full name Barbara Vansuyt, who lived a bit further down the street three hundred years ago and was suspected of witchcraft. The balloon is a tribute to the lady and is also named after her.”

Babbe will be baptized next spring and will probably only be seen by the local residents during the Witch Parade. “The balloon will participate in international balloon events as marketing for our company and the witch village. So you cannot buy a ticket to fly along.”

Charles Bayart, chairman of the Witch Parade, welcomes the initiative. “After the Witch Cakes, Witch Pâté, and Witch Gazette, a local company again chooses a product in the witch theme. Our Flemish intangible heritage is thus made known to new generations and countries. With the witch monument soon to be on the new roundabout at Kortekeer, Beselare is increasingly becoming a real witch village.”

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