KERMESSE (also KERMIS and KIRMESS)  , originally the mass said on the anniversary of the foundation of a church and in honour of the patron, the word being equivalent to " Kirkmass." Such celebrations were regularly held in the Low Countries and also in northern France, and were accompanied by feasting, dancing and sports of all kinds . They still survive, but are now practically nothing more than country fairs and the old allegorical representations are uncommon . The Brussels Kermesse is, however, still marked by a procession in which the effigies of the Mannikin and medieval heroes are carried . At Mons the Kermesse occurs annually on Trinity Sunday and is called the procession of Lumegon (Walloon for limacon, a snail): the hero is Gilles de Chin, who slays a terrible monster, captor of a princess, in the Grand Place . This is the story of George and the Dragon . At Hasselt the Kermesse (now only septennial) not only commemorates the Christian story of the foundation of the town, but even preserves traces of a pagan festival . The word Kermesse (generally in the form " Kirmess ") is applied in the United States to any entertainment, especially one organized in the interest of charity . See Demetrius C . Boulger, Belgian Life in Town and Country (1904) .