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Spin sisters: Three women who are shaking up Brussels' DJ scene

With an international career as a DJ and producer spanning two decades, Trish Van Eynde is humble about being dubbed Brussels' first lady of techno. But it’s an accurate accolade: she started making crowds sweat on dance floors with her powerfully emotive, cathartic Detroit-influenced beats back in the 1990s when clubland decks were an exclusively male domain. “It wasn’t easy,” she recalls. “But I didn’t let it stop me because there were no women already doing it. I had such a burning passion for music and DJing, it’s all I wanted to do.”

Hospital study shows progress and room for improvement

Flanders' hospitals are getting better at following safety rules, according to new figures from the Flemish Institute for Care Quality, which has investigated factors such as hand hygiene and prescription accuracy. Since 2016, the institute has carried out a study each year to judge whether the...

Thousands pack streets for annual Ghent festivities

Ghent's annual 10-day city festival is taking place this week for the 176th time, with a programme of live music, street theatre, circus and more. In total there are 3,621 activities, 1,866 of them free, organised by 400 different groups. Each day, 130,000 visitors are expected at the free festival...

Why Belgium's animal lovers are choosing to adopt their pets rather than buy

During World War One, British troops in Belgium asked what they should do with their sick or injured animals. Horses, pigeons and dogs were all used during warfare, and sometimes they could no longer serve. Belgium had no place for them. And so, right there during the war, the country’s first...

A way with words: Meet the performance poets with a growing reputation

Poetry is about feeling, and spoken-word poetry is pure performance. Whatever the subject, the sound of the wordplay and the rhythm of the language can deliver a swift emotional kick, and bring a lump to the throat of the most hardened of audiences. “It transcends boundaries and gives people a way...

Organic uprising: Wallonia enjoys a boom in the eco-food market

Organic food is everywhere. No longer the preserve of farmers markets and specialist stores, consumers can now pick up organic produce in a range of outlets, including supermarkets, artisan shops and vegetable box schemes. The variety of produce on sale continues to rise, from seasonal fresh fruit...

Meet the Brussels expat: Ilaria Maselli from Italy mixes city living with the peace of the countryside

I arrived in Brussels in 2006, as Erasmus student. I was doing my master’s in European affairs and my not-so-secret plan was to find a way to stay in the European capital. I now work as a senior economist for a think tank and membership organisation. If I go to the office, I take my electrical...

A friend in need: Why volunteering is an ideal way to make a difference to the community

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” This quote from Dr Seuss’s book The Lorax is what inspired Michelle Sequeira to found her Brussels-based non-profit Unless in 2016. Having being struck by the number of homeless people she would see on her...

Why (and how) I launched Belgium's first sake bar

The idea for Sake Bar Brussels began when a friend introduced me to the CEO of a company in Japan that imports Belgian chocolates for Valentine’s Day. He wanted to begin exporting goods too. I did a feasibility study about opening a sake bar here and we decided to invest together to set up a...

Escape to... Amsterdam: a city-trip worth repeating

While its stalwart sights such as the Royal Palace, floating flower market and Rijksmuseum greet you like old friends, Amsterdam 's shops, cafes and galleries offer ever-changing riches, with each neighbourhood sporting its own vibe. This year is an especially good time to visit: it’s the 350th...

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