Religious services, parades and a street fair dot the centre of Brussels on 21 July, Belgian National Day . It was on this day in 1831 that Leopold I was sworn in as the new country’s first king. Festivities begin the evening before, in fact, at Place du Jeu de Balle, with the free Bal National ...

If you're looking for an original name for your baby, don't go with Arthur or Emma. They were the most frequently chosen names for newborn children in Belgium in 2018, according to national statistics body Statbel. Arthur replaced Liam as last year's most popular boy's name. Lucas and Louis had...

Food exports from Belgium saw an all-time high in 2018, with a 3.5% increase on the previous year, according to the latest report from the Fevia food industry federation. Flanders is responsible for some 82% of all food production in the country. Food is Flanders’ largest industry, good for more...

Brussels is the first out the starting block to form a regional government following the May elections. It had already been decided last month that PS, Ecolo, Défi, Groen, Open VLD and one.brussels-SP.A would form the ruling coalition, but they had to hammer out a coalition agreement. Their...

The European hedgehog is in danger in Flanders, with numbers dwindling to half what they were 10 years ago. A number of issues have come together to endanger the little spine-covered mammal. Between 2008 and 2018, there were 6,709 hedgehog sightings in Flanders. The number has dropped every year,...

De Lijn will leave the underground bus station at Brussels North station later this year, after long-running concerns about safety and hygiene. The Flemish public transport operator temporarily stopped serving North Station twice in recent months, due to the migrants and other homeless people...

Radioactive substances were detected in three bags of trash picked up by Bruxelles - Propreté last week. The substances were deposited in normal trash bags and left on the pavement. The bags were detected by an automated system when the rubbish lorries drove into the incineration site at the end of...

Economic growth in Flanders is set to remain above that in Wallonia or Brussels in the years to come, according to figures from Belgium’s Federal Planning Bureau. This good news is tempered by projections that see growth slowing in Flanders, and across the whole of Belgium, in line with Europe’s...

Air Belgium will begin direct flights from Charleroi to the French overseas territories of Guadeloupe and Martinique from this winter. The Belgian airline will run twice-weekly flights from 7 December, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, to Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe) and Fort de France (Martinique)...

Ultima V ez dance company has heeded the call of the Vanaja Prison in Finland, which asked other women’s prisons in Europe to follow-up their dance video with one of their own. Choreographer Seppe Baeyens worked with women in four prisons in Belgium to create a new entry in the European Prison...