On the last Sunday of July, Veurne stages the Boeteprocessie — a sombre procession of hooded penitents, often in their hundreds, carrying wooden crosses through the streets of the old town. It is one of the oldest continuous Catholic processions in the Low Countries, in unbroken observance since 1644, and is held in conjunction with tableaux vivants depicting the Passion.
It is not a tourist spectacle and the local audience treats it with the seriousness it asks for. If you want to see it, arrive early, dress respectfully, and find a position on the route from the Grote Markt; the whole event takes most of the afternoon. The associated Sint-Walburgakermis funfair runs in the same week.