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Summer in Belgium: 32 cultural highlights you mustn't miss
Culture
10:55 10/07/2018
Keep this countrywide cultural agenda to hand all summer long and enjoy the best events in each of Belgium's regions
In Brussels
- MY QUEENS
Delightful series of reliefs by Belgian artist Jan Fabre
Until 19 August - FRUNCH (FRIDAY LUNCH)
Chillout courtyard terrace with food trucks, bar and live music
Until 31 August - CAROLUS FESTIVAL
Celebration of Renaissance Brussels, including Ommegang procession
Until 2 September - FESTIVAL DES MINIMES
Free lunchtime classical, jazz and world concerts in centuries-old church
1 July-31 August - BRUXELLES FAIT SON CINÉMA
Nomadic open-air film festival in reclusive spots
8-20 July - FESTIVAL BRUXELLONS!
20th-anniversary edition of the French-language theatre festival
9 July-9 September - FOIRE DU MIDI
Big summer fair with rides and other amusements
14 July-19 August - OPENING OF THE ROYAL PALACE
See how the royal family lives, plus exhibitions and family activities
21 July-2 September - BRUSSELS SUMMER FESTIVAL
Music fest with more than 60 local and internationals acts
14-18 August - FLOWER CARPET
Breath-taking carpet of flowers on Grand’Place and displays in Town Hall
16-19 August - BOTERHAMMEN IN HET PARK
Free lunchtime concerts featuring local bands
27-31 August - FEEËRIEËN
Free evening pavilion concerts surrounded by food and twinkly lights
27-31 August - EAT! BRUSSELS DRINK! BORDEAUX
Annual food festival that brings Bordeaux’s Fête le Vin to the capital
6-9 September
In Flanders
- ANTWERP BAROQUE
Year-long celebration of all things Baroque, Peter-Paul Rubens in particular
Until April 2019 - SUMMER OF ANTWERP
Theatre, circus, cinema, pop-up bars and parades all summer long
15 June-2 September - CACTUS FESTIVAL
Bruges’ annual music festival invites Charlotte Gainsbourg and Goldfrapp, among others
13-15 July - BLUES PEER
Limburg roots and blues festival with headliner Van Morrison
13-15 July - THEATER AAN ZEE
Ostend’s summer theatre fest includes free Danse Massacre! parade
25 July-4 August - FESTIVAL DRANOUTER
Family-friendly folk music festival in the West Flemish countryside
3-5 August - MA FESTIVAL
Bruges’ early-music festival
3-12 August - ANTWERP PRIDE
Port city’s celebration of the gay, lesbian, bi and trans community
8-12 August - JAZZ MIDDELHEIM
Antwerp festival with Archie Shepp and Melanie De Biasio and others
9-12 August
In Wallonia
- GALIEN: A GREEK DOCTOR IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Exhibition at the beautiful Mariemont estate in rural Hainaut
Until 2 December - LES FESTIVALS DE WALLONIE
Classical and new music festivals across the region
22 June-23 October - FESTIVAL ETÉ MOSANE
Classical music in abbeys, castles and idyllic churches in the Meuse valley
8 July-26 August - CALIGULA
Open-air theatre staged in the grounds of the imposing Villers Abbey
10 July-12 August - DOUR FESTIVAL
Alternative rock, reggae and hip-hop combine
11-15 July - FRANCOFOLIES DE SPA
Rock, pop, reggae and soul at this celebration of French-language music
19-22 July - ESPERANZAH!
World music festival at the atmospheric Floreffe Abbey
3-5 August - LES FETES DU 15 AOUT
Liège’s annual folk festival features markets, concerts and processions
14-16 August - BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
Annual Formula 1 race at Spa-Francorchamps in Liège province
24-26 August - LES SOLIDARITES
Music festival with more: film, debates and family activities at Namur’s citadel
25-26 August
For more summer inspiration, pick up The Bulletin Summer 2018, on sale in newsagents now...