Gordel Festival draws twice as many participants

The annual cultural festival and bicycle ride organised in the “Green Belt” around Brussels, or the Brussels Periphery, on Sunday drew a total of 23,263 people, almost twice as many as last year, with 12,500 participants. The number comes close to the most successful edition of the festival in 2012, when 29,500 visitors took part.

Under the motto, 'Exercise, enjoy and stay for a while', the Gordel Festival offered numerous activities to attract participants to the five community centres of the Brussel Periphery, most notably in Hofstade and Vilvoorde, and in the provincial domain of Huizingen. Participants made use of some 440 km of cycle paths, 73 km of hiking trails and 33 km of equestrian trails.

Despite protest in years past, due to the political connotations and “Flemish character” of the event, this year’s edition was without any major incidents or cases of sabotage.