The Zinneke Parade is a biennial parade held in the city of Brussels, Belgium since 2000; a different theme is chosen for each parade. 'Zinneke' is a nickname chosen to represent people from Brussels. The word originally referred to city stray dogs which hung around the streets by the Little Zenne (a tangent canal of the river Zenne which ran round Brussels along the city walls) until the end of the 19th century.[1]
The parade was established with the aim of connecting the many different cultures, communities and districts within Brussels. The director of the Zinneke association, Myriam Stoffen, has talked about the desire to 'build bridges' between these parts of the city.[1] The organisers of the parade aim to work with a large variety of institutions, schools, cultural centres, organisations and societies.[2] Residents work together with professional artists[1] to create the ideas and prepare the projects which eventually make up the parade.
A human-powered vehicle in the 2010 parade
A characteristic of the parade which distinguishes it from many other parades or carnivals is that it is described as being "100% human" - music is performed live, without amplification, and there are no motorised vehicle
