Shrimp parade passes through Oostduinkerke
Oostduinkerke is the municipality of the shrimp and they could celebrate that again on Sunday with the shrimp procession during the shrimp festivities. Horse fishing in the coastal town has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Local tourism is also linked to the procession, according to Mieke Ghesquière, head of Tourism Koksijde. “We want to show the story of how Oostduinkerke has evolved from a fishing village to a modern seaside resort.”
One of the sights by the sea was the beauty pageant. ‘Mieke Shrimp’ is the name of the local beauty who represents Oostduinkerke as ambassador for one year. In recent months there has been some tension between Ostend and Koksijde about the shrimp croquette. In Ostend they proclaimed their culinary pride as ‘Edible heritage’ at the beginning of this year. If it depends on the mayor of Koksijde, Marc Vanden Bussche, the shrimp croquettes of his municipality and Ostend will be allowed to fight it out among themselves in a competition. It will have to wait until the next Shrimp Festivities for that competition.