OFFICIAL INVITATION
Manneken Pis Celebrates World Fair Play! 🌍
It is with enthusiasm, pride and a touch of typically Brussels irreverence that Manneken Pis, the most famous Bruxellois in the world and an emblematic ambassador of world folklore, is preparing to celebrate a major milestone for universal values:
the United Nations Resolution proclaiming 19 May as World Fair Play Day.
By donning the Fair Play costume, Manneken Pis delivers a clear, joyful and unifying message: Fair Play goes far beyond sport. It is a state of mind, a way of living together based on respect, fairness and solidarity — truly everyone’s business.
It is with great pride that the International Fair Play Committee, Panathlon International and the European Fair Play Movement announce this symbolic ratification. As initiators and custodians of the spirit of the Resolution, the three organizations see in this powerful gesture a living tribute to the commitment they have championed for decades to promote Fair Play worldwide.
Thanks to Manneken Pis, Brussels shines on the international stage, proving that folklore can be a powerful messenger of universal human values.
🎈 On 19 May at 13.15, let us celebrate World Fair Play Day together with Manneken Pis —
because Fair Play is, today more than ever, everyone’s business.
Place to be : Manneken Pis, Crossroad rue de l’Etuve and rue du Chêne, 1000 Brussels
To find your way, listen to the music !!!
World Fair Play Day is the brainchild of Panathlon Wallonie-Bruxelles, which since 2013 has been organising a week of Fair-Play activities in September, including the Relay du Fair-Play.
From September 7 to May 19
In 2020, Panathlon International (P.I.), the International Committee for Fair Play (CIFP) and the European Fair Play Movement (EFPM) joined forces to create the World Fair Play Day.
The date of 7 September was not chosen at random by Panathlon Wallonie-Bruxelles. It was on this day in 1963 that the founding members of what was to become the International Committee for Fair Play (CIFP) met at the initiative of French tennis champion Jean Borotra.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) subsequently endorsed the CIFP as a defender of the values of the Olympic Charter.
On the 7th September 2020, the first global World Fair Play Day was inaugurated in Brussels City Hall with both formal signings and local sports activities and events.
And every year since then, the city of Brussels has hosted the official World Fair Play Day ceremony, supported by the Brussels authorities.
Panathlon Wallonie-Bruxelles welcomes this recognition of Fair Play by the United Nations General Assembly, confirming the relevance and importance of this concept, which is the Spirit of Sport. It should be noted that this initiative with the United Nations was supported by Hungary, the country from which CIFP President Jenö Kamuti originates.
In 2021, Manneken Pis, the sculpture of the most famous little boy in Brussels and Belgium, received a new costume donated by the partner institutions.
This costume joined the official Manneken Pis wardrobe, which now includes over 1,000 costumes.
Every World Fair Play Day is an opportunity to see him dressed in the finest Fair-Play colors.
