Culture beat – July 11

Roller coasters, halls of mirrors and coconut shies, not forgetting waffles, cotton candy and toffee apples – it can only mean Brussels’ Midi Fair, which stars this Friday and lasts until August 18. Today’s edition will be the 133rd – that’s an awful amount of waffles, if think about it. Parking is provided (500 places) but, as every Brusseleir knows, you go to the Foire de Midi by public transport… or on foot.

Step back in time and travel to Berlin and Paris, reliving The Golden Age of Cabaret and Burlesque. Part of the Festival de Bruxelles, the show, which runs from Wednesday July 17 until Sunday July 21 at Cellule 133a, promises to recreate the cosy and louche atmosphere of the legendary cabarets where wealthy gentlemen, dodgy businessmen and  femmes fatales would be entertained by pin-ups with generous curves singing outrageously decadent tunes laden with double-entendres. Humour and glamour are the keywords and, should any type of strip-tease take place, it will all be tastefully done, of course.

In 1949, Hungarian-born French photographer Lucien Hervé travelled to Marseille to produce a photo essay on Swiss-born French arhitect Le Corbusier's Unité d'Habitation [housing complex] for a magazine. Hervé took an impressive 650 photographs in a single day. However, on his return, he was dismayed to learn that not one of the pictures was taken up by the editor of Plaisir de France, who had commissioned them. Instead it was Le Corbusier who snapped him up, making him his official photographer. They worked together until the architect's death in 1965. This exhibition of Hervé’s arresting photographs runs until Sunday at the Keitelman gallery – not to be missed.

It’s the wrong country and the wrong date, but that didn’t stop trendy downtown nightclub Mr Wong from putting on, with help from a well-known champagne producer, a French National Party this Saturday. On the bill: a line-up of French DJs (Manu DeMars, Superdrums, Leze Majesté), a two-bottles-of-bubbly-for-the-price-of-one offer and… free admission with a French ID or passport.

It’s been ten years since the release of Brussels sleazy punk rockers Nervous Shakes’ debut album, the hilariously titled Separate Beds? I Don’t Think So. The band has survived periods of inner turmoil and personnel changes – chiefly the departure and return of Irish guitarist extraordinaire James Neligan – and, still under the leadership of Ivan Andreini, is back at the DNA this Saturday to play some more Johnny Thunders-inspired rock’n’roll.