Limoux in the Ariege Department.

Limoux is a medieval town situated about 15 miles south of Carcassonne.It is the home of the famous "Blanquette de Limoux",a famous champagne distilled before the advent of real Champagne hundreds of years ago.
It is a beautiful old town built around a covered market square underneath which there are fantastic bars and restaurants.
On every Saturday and Sunday, three times a day,between January and March there is a ritual parade in Limoux where the locals dress up in magnificent costumes and parade around the square meandering from restaurant to restaurant. Always accompanied by a brass band, this parade has been going on for hundreds of winters with many choreographed movements passed down through the generations from family to family.
The dancing is carried out in such a way that only the hands, head and legs can be moved.There is to be no untoward movement of the body.
For many of its' participants it is an opportunity to whisper insults and abuse at other townsfolk who have maybe upset them in the previous twelve months. This is possible because no-one is allowed to touch the dancers or remove their masks.Every winter around five tons of confetti is caste over the heads of visitors who come to see the spectacle.The dancers approach you stare at you through their masks and nonchalantly empty a handful over your head!!
The whole idea of the Limoux Winter Festival is to chase the winter away and to welcome the onset of spring.