The City of Tournai and the Interassociation Royale des sociétés patriotiques de Tournai are organizing a Remembrance Ceremony on Sunday, November 1st, 2026, from 11 AM to 12 PM, at the South Cemetery. This tribute will honor Belgian soldiers from the Heroes' Plot, civilian victims of the bombings of 1940 and 1945, and Commonwealth soldiers resting in the Allies' Extension. The memory of deportees and Tournai political figures Joseph Hoyois and Édouard Valcke will also be honored. Special tributes will be dedicated to Belgian soldier Oscar Godart and English pilots killed during "Bloody April" in 1917. Students from the history option at the Athénée Royal Jules Bara will participate. The procession will start from the main entrance of the South Cemetery, at chaussée de Willemeau 135.
As part of the Armistice commemorations, 27 ceremonies are scheduled throughout the Tournai area. The City of Tournai, the Interassociation Royale des sociétés patriotiques de Tournai, the Relais de la Mémoire, and the FNC de Barry invite everyone to participate. Preserving and transmitting memory to younger generations are central to these events, with some taking place during school hours to allow participation from students in communal and free schools.
The ceremonies will begin on Tuesday, November 3rd, at the Carbonnelle residence (Tournai) and in Marquain. They will continue in the following days in various villages: Froidmont (November 14th), Froyennes (November 4th), Kain (November 4th), Lamain (November 11th), Maulde (November 9th and 11th), Orcq (November 14th), Quartes (November 7th), Ramegnies-Chin (November 11th), Rumillies (November 6th), Saint-Maur (November 6th), Thimougies (November 11th), Templeuve (November 11th), Tournai city center (November 11th), Vaulx (November 9th), Vezon (November 11th), and Warchin (November 9th and 11th).
On Wednesday, November 11th, the main Armistice Day, several tributes will take place, including in Thimougies, Ramegnies-Chin, Tournai city center (with a procession starting from the Gabrielle Petit monument), Mont-Saint-Aubert, Templeuve, Vezon, Warchin, Maulde, and Lamain. The Provincial Sacred Relay ceremony in Quartes on November 7th will honor soldiers who sacrificed their lives on battlefields worldwide.
