Every year, the Jonkheed van Banholt (that is, the unmarried boys from the village) organise the Den-Halen.
https://youtu.be/zWBVj1O5Uqc?feature=shared
The Saint Gerlachus Chapel
In 2005, on the Saturday before Pentecost, the 125th St. Gerlachusden was fetched and planted in Tebannet (Banholt). This is therefore the St. Gerlachusden and not, as in so many villages, a Mayden. Before 1881, a Mayden was indeed fetched and planted in Banholt on May 1st. That since 1881 no Mayden but a St. Gerlachusden is fetched, follows from a notice that was posted in various places in the village in 1881.
That in 1881 they started to get a Saint Gerlachus oak tree can be explained by the fact that Banholt had only recently been elevated to a rectory. As mentioned earlier, they belonged to the parish of Mheer, and the new church in Banholt had no official status before 1881. Now that Banholt was a rectory, they also started to organize their own fairs. Due to the Saint Gerlachus bell and the Saint Gerlachus statue, they had developed a preference for Saint Gerlachus. Hence, they also introduced the Gerlachus fairs here, namely on January 5th, the feast day of this Limburg saint. They would also honor this saint at Pentecost. From now on, every year Banholt would ask Saint Gerlachus for protection with a new oak tree.
Saint Gerlachus, through his seven years of penance in Jerusalem, where he cared for the livestock of a hospital for the sick and the poor, became a beloved patron saint of livestock, fields, and crops. By planting the St. Gerlachusden, the inhabitants of Banholt and Terhorst ask Gerlachus for protection of the village. On that day, in the church, the Saint Gerlachus song is also sung during the Holy Mass for that reason.
