Culture beat: 11 September

The bass guitar takes makes a rare appearance centre stage in the 12th edition of the Marni Jazz Festival until 19 September. The popular multidisciplinary venue opens its arts season with a carte blanche to Belgian bass player Michel Hatzigeorgiou. The former Aka Moon musician will be unveiling works from his first solo album La Basse d’Orphée.

Retro-style fans should head to Tour & Taxis this weekend for the 19th Brussels design market. Attracting international professional and amateur dealers of furniture and objects from the 1950s to 80s, the flea market is in the Ancienne Gare Maritime. It is part of Design September, a festival celebrating good design and promoting up-and-coming designers with more than 100 events around the city until 30 September. The entrance fee for the market is €10 on Saturday; €20 on Sunday.

If you have missed your regular art-fix over the summer break, take advantage of the 8th edition of Brussels Art Days from Friday (today) to Sunday. The opening of the art season sees a record 31 galleries taking part with each one presenting an exhibition of high-quality works. Guided tours are led by Caroline Dumalin of Wiels with talks by Dumalin and Helena Kritis at Beursschouwbug on Sunday from 11.00 to 13.00 (in French from 11.00-12.00; English, 12.00-13.00).

Brussels maintains its foodie reputation with eat! Brussels, drink! Bordeaux in the Royal Park this weekend. Enjoy some gastronomic pleasures from the city’s top eateries, accompanied by fine wines from the French wine region. Mmmmh! is running workshops and children can play in a special recreational area. There are around 20 participating restaurants and more than 50 wine growers from Bordeaux.

If a work-out is more to your taste, don’t miss the final weekend of European Week of Sport. A European sport village is set up at Mont des Arts with activities such as golf, climbing, cross-fit, judo, table tennis and Nordic walking. The non-profit event is from10.30 to 19.30. It aims at promoting health and increasing participation in sports.

Serving up a regular dose of laughs in the capital is English Comedy Brussels. It’s next meet on Tuesday 15 September is at Flagey pub The Black Sheep. It sees headliner Rayguns Look Real Enough stepping up to the stage, promising a mash of rock, roll and hilarity. The duo are preceded by Darius Davies, while MC Dave Thompson kicks off proceedings (his main claim to fame is a previous incarnation as teletubbie Tinkie Winkie!).

Support the global movement against violence V-Day and the Congolese project City of Joy in a special event at Flagey on Tuesday. The evening is presented by V-Day founder and Vagina Monologues author Eve Ensler and Christine Schuler Deschryver, director of the project that helps women rebuild their lives after sexual violence. Since opening its doors in 2011, it has helped more than 500 women in their recovery. The region, east of the DRC, is known as the rape capital of the world. City of Joy arose from the work of gynaecologist Dr Denis Mukwege who treats sexually abused women at the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu. Dr Mukwege won the EU Sakharov peace prize in 2014. He is the subject of the documentary The Man who Mends Women: The Wrath of Hippocrates by Belgian filmmaker Thierry Michel, released in April 2015.