When Wouter Van Bellingen became the first black registrar in Belgium, he knew there would be negative reactions, but he admitted that he didn't expect them to be "so direct, so soon." In February, three couples refused to pledge their wedding vows in front of the first black alderman of the city of Sint-Niklaas , because of the colour of his skin. After the racist incident, Van Bellingen told himself: "If people don't want to marry, then that's not my problem, it's the problem of those people." When asked about the role of the far-right political party Vlaams Belang , Van Bellingen told Wikinews: "It's true that a climate of fear has been created, but to blame it on a single party would be too easy. It's the responsibility of all parties." Van Bellingen wants to be the councilor of civilian affairs for all citizens, "not just for those who voted for me." It started small A spokeswoman for the organising committee told the press that it all started with a "nice little idea" to have a mass wedding event on March 21, the U.N.-declared International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination . However, they were "really surprised that the event became something huge." Couples who wanted to renew their vows or pledge them for the first time could register on the event website. Stijn De Maeyer, a volunteer working on the registrations, told Wikinews that they had to close the online registration when some 692 couples had registered, because of logistic limitations. On the evening itself, he estimated that 1 out of 3 couples who showed up hadn't registered beforehand. There were couples from the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom and even a couple from Norway. Some of the Belgian couples were immigrants from Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Kosovo , according to De Maeyer. While singer Axl Peleman, who demonstrated his concern about racial discrimination in Flanders on the 0110 concerts last October, opened the podium, the couples began to register on the city's Market Square. At that moment, the Flemish radio station Radio 2 took over and started a live DJ set, playing the songs the couples had voted for. The number one wedding dance wasn't Bryan Adams or Clouseau, but Ik hou van u (I love you) by Noordkaap , a song that already proved popular in 2005 when it was reworked for the celebration of the 175th anniversary of the state of Belgium. For the final challenge, those who like international food could select from the wedding buffet, with desserts provided by local communities such as the Turkish, Syrian, Moroccon and Roma societies, by organisations such as the Red Cross immigration center. There were also desserts from Mexico, Chile and from the Hare Krishna . Together with a wedding cake for 750 people, the organisation hoped to provide for enough desserts for all present, and to end the wedding party in beauty.
When became the first black registrar in Belgium, he knew there would be negative reactions, but he admitted that he didn't expect them to be "so direct, so soon." In February, three couples refused to pledge their wedding vows in front of the first black alderman of the city of , because of the colour of his skin. After the incident, Van Bellingen told himself: "If people don't want to marry, then that's not my problem, it's the problem of those people." When asked about the role of the far-right political party , Van Bellingen told Wikinews: "It's true that a climate of fear has been created, but to blame it on a single party would be too easy. It's the responsibility of all parties." Van Bellingen wants to be the councilor of civilian affairs for all citizens, "not just for those who voted for me." It started small A spokeswoman for the organising committee told the press that it all started with a "nice little idea" to have a mass wedding event on March 21, the U.N.-declared . However, they were "really surprised that the event became something huge." Couples who wanted to renew their vows or pledge them for the first time could register on the event website. Stijn De Maeyer, a volunteer working on the registrations, told Wikinews that they had to close the online registration when some 692 couples had registered, because of logistic limitations. On the evening itself, he estimated that 1 out of 3 couples who showed up hadn't registered beforehand. There were couples from the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom and even a couple from Norway. Some of the Belgian couples were immigrants from Nigeria, Ivory Coast , and , according to De Maeyer. While singer Axl Peleman, who demonstrated his concern about racial discrimination in on the last October, opened the podium, the couples began to register on the city's Market Square. At that moment, the Flemish radio station Radio 2 took over and started a live DJ set, playing the songs the couples had voted for. The number one wedding dance wasn't Bryan Adams or Clouseau, but Ik hou van u (I love you) by , a song that already proved popular in 2005 when it was reworked for the celebration of the 175th anniversary of the state of Belgium. For the final challenge, those who like international food could select from the wedding buffet, with desserts provided by local communities such as the Turkish, Syrian, Moroccon and Roma societies, by organisations such as the immigration center. There were also desserts from Mexico, Chile and from the . Together with a wedding cake for 750 people, the organisation hoped to provide for enough desserts for all present, and to end the wedding party in beauty.
D
Wouter Van Bellingen
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Sint-Niklaas
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racist
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Vlaams Belang
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International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
R
and Kosovo
, and
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Flanders on the 0110 concerts
on the
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Noordkaap
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Red Cross
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Hare Krishna