Jolly Mayday

Belgian police forces evacuating the Bois de La Cambre parc in Brussels, May 1st, 2021.

Jolly Mayday

La Cambre is the largest wooded park in Brussels, the most beautiful as well as the most peaceful, with its lovers, frisbee players, families with babies, and youngsters yearning for a breath of fresh air and freedom. Those that come together to say that they’ve had it with disproportionate restrictions, that there’s no such thing as clusters when outdoors, that it’s high time to cut the people some slack. For the authorities, this bargain was too tempting to pass up, so out came the troops, horses, pumpers trucks, helicopters, and tear gas. I found myself with these kids, old people, families and children suffocating, running from the water cannons, the teargas and the cavalry charges through the park’s paths. This May 1st in Brussels, the air of this kingdom was stifling.