Balcony bash: Brussels Jazz Weekend finds clever way to play

Jazz bands will take to some of Brussels’ most beautiful balconies this weekend for the fourth edition of Brussels Jazz Weekend. Every municipality will host a free balcony concert over the two days, and bike routes lead visitors to every one of them.

The event usually sees 300,000 people descending on the capital for 48-hours of non-stop performances on seven themes squares and numerous bars and clubs. That was never going to work this year, so organisers brainstormed to come up with a way to still be able to hold the event – worrying that a cancellation two years in a row would be a death knell.

“We wanted to offer music, and hope, to people,” says Steven Palmaers, organiser of the festival. “But we had to find a way that it would be allowed.”

Musicians will perform ‘unplugged’ on balconies, without all the lights and sound tech. A concert starts every hour on the hour in a different municipality, with every band playing for 30 minutes.

‘Positive vibe’

Bubble circles will be etched on the ground for 50 spectators – the current number of people allowed to gather out of doors. As long as additional spectators who happen along practice distancing, there shouldn’t be any problems, though Palmaers notes that if the crowd gets too big, stewards will ask people to move along. There will also be a police presence.

The organisation is prepared to halt any performance that doesn’t go smoothly. Despite all of the limitations, it’s worth hosting the event this year, he says. “It’s just about having a positive attitude and wanting to offer that to audiences and to musicians. That’s a positive vibe that we need today.”

Many of the performances – all by local jazz singers and bands – are on the balconies of city halls. Some are attached to cultural centres, and one takes to Wolvendael Park in Uccle. Bike routes for both days have been worked out to get visitors to every spot – though Palmaers doesn’t expect everyone to be quite that ambitious.

 
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“I’m not really a biker, so rushing from one municipality to the other would really exhaust me,” he says with a smile. “The idea is to let people discover other things. So the routes take in other sites.” This is in keeping with the festival’s tagline: Discover jazz, discover the city.

Saturday’s programme takes in the northern side of the capital, and Sunday’s the southern end. The bike routes can be downloaded to a smartphone and will still be available after the festival on Route You and Google.

An added bonus is that a musician in every band is a ‘jazz ambassador’ to the municipality – because he or she actually lives there. Podcasts have been created with every ambassador, who talks about making music but also about the municipality in which they live.

“They tell us why they live there, and what you should know about it,” says Palmaers. “You can listen to the podcast as you bike from one municipality to the other, hearing the musician who lives there. With all the Covid cancellations, we thought it would be nice to look behind the scenes of each musician – who they are, where they live, what inspires them. We thought let’s use this moment to represent culture.”

Saturday ends with more balcony concerts – this time by musicians taking to their own balconies around the capital. “During the lockdowns, people played concerts on their terraces, so we thought it would be nice to include that, too,” says Palmaers. There are 30 such balcony concerts on the programme.

BJO on Grand Place

And on Sunday evening, the Brussels Jazz Orchestra closes out the weekend from the Maison du Roi on Grand Place. The well-known band on the world-famous square was an obvious match, and Palmaers also wanted to make the point that in the heart of Europe’s most famous landmark, an event can be held that respects this crucial point in our slow exodus from a health crisis that has kept us in its grip for 16 months.

“When we first contacted the municipalities in December, they thought we were crazy,” says Palmaers. “It was a risk. And still today, we need to be vigilant. But they came around to supporting the event because they have seen the importance of it. They see that offering culture and music is important for today’s emotions and wellbeing.”

Brussels Jazz Weekend: 29-30 May, across the capital

Photo top: Karen van Schaik joins Trance Turbine for a concert on the terrace of Saint-Gilles landmark town hall
©Greetje Van Buggenhout