New weekly market to accompany redesign of Porte d'Anvers

Downtown Brussels will have a new weekly open-air market later this year as the Porte d’Anvers, after years of neglect, undergoes a complete facelift.

The square already has a new pavement and roadway, with expanded pedestrian areas. Even the chip stand sports a new streamlined reflective look which will become the required design for all the free-standing chip stands in Brussels-City.

Now the city has announced that it is planning a weekly market at Porte d’Anvers and a survey has been launched on the city's website so that local residents can express their wishes.

"The survey will help create a market that will meet the needs of residents as closely as possible,” the city council said.

The survey includes questions relating to the shopping habits of local residents in a market, preferred market days, times and types of businesses desired.

"The opening is scheduled for 2022 but the precise date has not been set," said Fabian Maingain, the city’s alderman for commerce. “We first want to analyse the preferences of the inhabitants of the district, through market research, before launching things.

“We want to find itinerant traders willing to come on site, which can be difficult. The goal for the City of Brussels is not to open lots of small markets and then close them for lack of customers.”

The City of Brussels has 15 markets organised at different times of the week, in several central districts as well as in Neder-over-Heembeek, Laeken and Haren, including organic, artisanal, bicycle, antiques, gourmet and zero waste. A complete list and detailed information can be found at this site.