Definition of "kermess" []

• In the Low Countries and in French Flanders, an annual fair and festival of a town or commune, characterized by feasting, dancing, grotesque processions, target-shooting, and other forms of amusement, which at one time reached a licentious extravagance. (noun)
• A kind of entertainment, usually given for charitable purposes, in which the costumes and sports of the Flemish kermess are imitated. (noun)

The Century Dictionary (Public Domain)

• "In the movement and the noise of the kermess she said:"
• ""Had it anything to do with the society for which Monsieur Desvanneaux asked me to appear in a kermess?""
• ""Do you guarantee the solvency of this person?" demanded M. Desvanneaux, who saw the project of the kermess falling to the ground."