Culture Beat - July 25

The owners of Music Village like to claim that the sophisticated club, a stone's throw from the Grand' Place, caters to jazz lovers while “giving non-connoisseurs an opportunity to fall in love with jazz”. Swing is a genre which tends to unite buffs and novices, and Buster & the Swing Quintet, which consists of René De Smaele (trumpet), André Ronsse (sax, clarinet) Dirk van der Linden (piano), Jean Van Lint (bass) and Jean-Luc Van Lommel (drums) is hailed as “Belgium’s best swing band for decades”. The band plays Thursday, Friday at Saturday; admission costs a princely €10.

Few conceptual artists have proved as divisive as Jan Bucquoy. But if Belgium’s most celebrated iconoclast is famous for  opening a museum devoted to underwear or guillotining a bust of king Baudouin on the Grand’ Place, he is first and foremost an artist. La Vie sexuelle des Belges, his highly autobiographical satire on parochial narrow-mindedness, is not always in good taste, but was nevertheless deemed “funny and poignant” by London’s Time Out. At Cinematek on Tuesday (19.00).

Throughout the summer, the mezzanine of the Autoworld Museum will be busting with classic sports vehicles from all disciplines thanks to the Racing Memories exhibitions.  Over 40 race cars and GTs reflecting 50 years of automotive passion.  Porsches (Carreras RSR, 911R, 934 and 935), BMWs (M1, M3), Fords (Sierra Cosworth, Escort and Capri), a Lotus Elan, a Lola T70 and an Arrows F1, to name but a few, will sit alongside three cars once driven by the late Antwerp pilot and journalist Philip Verellen: a BMW325i, an Audi 200 and a V8 Procar.

Outside Brussels

For seven years, the Comedy Festival Ghent has lured many professional English-speaking comedians to the Gentse Feesten as part of the Comedy Festival. This year is no different, with the award-winning deaf British comedian Steve Day set to make an appearance that will have you giggling like a little kid. Described by fans as “warm, funny, frank and thought-provoking”, Day has a self-effacing kind of humour and slew of witty punchlines up his sleeve (“I’m Britain’s only deaf comic… or if there are any others, I haven’t heard”). The other act featured is the American comedy legend Lois Bromfield, one of the regular writers for popular sitcoms such as Roseanne and Grace Under Fire. When on stage, no topic is safe from Bromfield, from something as banal as shopping and dating to more serious – and seriously funny – societal critique. Grab your tickets while they last, as these shows tend to sell out fast. Saturday at 22.00, Sunday at 20.00.

Do you point to the sky every time you spot a hot-air balloon? You’d be forgiven for this almost instinctual reaction, since these giant floating balls of gas tend to inspire awe in most people since childhood. It’s a demonstration of fundamental physics, but hot-air balloon flight has something magical about it. Come to the Meetjeslandse Balloonmeeting in Eeklo in East Flanders this weekend (Saturday and Sunday) to watch as many as 100 balloons take to the sky in unison. You’ll be surprised by the variety of shapes and sizes, including hearts, cartoon characters and colourful animals. For those keeping both feet on the ground, this 28th edition of the event features plenty of live music, food stands and activities for children.