Belgian festival-goers fume as centuries-old custom of drinking LIVE FISH is banned on cruelty grounds

Belgian festival-goers are in uproar after after a government ban put an end to one of its most bizarre traditions – drinking live fish from a goblet of wine.

For more than 600 years, the town of Geraardsbergen has marked the arrival of spring with the Krakelingen festival, a raucous celebration featuring costumed processions, ancient rituals, and the dramatic tossing of bread rings from the historic Oudenberg Hill.