Huy, cradle of the roller skate

I roll, you skate, he glides, we fall, you pick us up... Rollerblading will come in all forms this summer in Huy. A new stage in the Belgium Rollers parades calendar, which eclipses Liège for this year, completes the events in Brussels, Hasselt, Mons, Ghent, Koksijde, Namur, and Ostend... and coincides with the theme of the Huy tourist season. We hope to return to Liège, which is well-suited for rollerblading, but in this bicentennial year of the death of Jean-Joseph Merlin, the Huy-native inventor of the roller skate, we could not miss the symbolic opportunity to make a stop in Huy, remarks organizer Carl Moncharline. Concerned about the health of his collaborators (Last year, they were exhausted at the end of the season... I myself skated more than 800 kilometers, and we could go for 3 weeks straight), he decided, to offer them one day off per week, to cancel the Tuesday parade and to alternatively offer Huy and Mons to the Saturday skaters. They will thus discover the Cité du Pontia (1) to the rhythm of the summer events: this Saturday, during the 23rd Nuit du Bassinia (see "Agenda"); on August 7, with the opening of the Fair and a sound and light show, which is rumored to include rollerblading participants; and on September 25, as part of the Fêtes de Wallonie, for the closing of the Belgium Rollers season. So many opportunities to pay tribute to the brilliant Merlin who, as a responsible inventor, should approve the safety instructions of the organizers: wearing all protections for children... and mastering braking for the older ones. • (1) Gathering at 7 p.m. on the Grand Place, departure at 8 p.m. and arrival around 10:30 p.m. Route of about 20 km (Huy, Amay, Ombret, Tihange, Huy). Rental: 10 euros. Info: [contact details removed].