brussels_activities

Report as inappropriate Your report has been received

Shared by: NiceTime

Tags

Things to Do in Brussels, Brussels, Belgium, Grand Place, Brussels Guide, day trip, the best of Brussels, City of Brussels, attractions in Brussels, coach tour, Brussels Tourist

Stats

views:: 2
posted:: 6/16/2010
language:: English
pages:: 2

Public Domain

Document Sample

DEC
EMB
200 ER
WHEN TO COME TO BRUSSELS
9

6 MARCH 2010 theatre festival: you could say that Kunstenfestival des Arts
is like a small version of that one. Tickets can be expensive,
MUSEUM NIGHT FEVER but the tryouts are cheaper.
For one night, it’s young people who call the shots in 20
Brussels museums. Expect stuff like a fashion show in the
www.kfda.be
Museum of the National Bank or a breakdance battle in the
old Hallepoort tower. While the concerts and performances
go on, art students do guided tours (in Dutch and French, 16 APRIL > 9 MAY 2010
but English and Spanish too). Goes on until 1 o’clock, with VISIT THE ROYAL GREENHOUSES
a famous afterparty in BOZAR Museum. Each spring, king Albert II opens the gates of the royal
domain in Laeken so that everyone can come and have a
www.museumnightfever.be look at his palace. You cannot shake hands with the king,
but what you get is better: the Royal Greenhouses. Built in
Art Nouveau style by his great-great-uncle (king Leopold II),
8 > 20 APRIL 2010 they are a world apart with 15.000m2 of ﬂowers, plants and
BRUSSELS INTERNATIONAL art nouveau glassworks and even palm trees which were
FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL brought here from the former colony of Congo more than
“Bukarest Fleisch”, “The Toolbox Murders”, “Wizard of 100 years ago.
Gore”, “Oxford Murders”. Most people who come here
agree that chainsaw massacres, live burials and brain eat- www.monarchy.be/en
ing are just a good laugh. The science ﬁction and horror
festival presents both new big releases and B-ﬁlms in an
old industrial site with over a 1000 seats. Nobody stays
22 MAY 2010
quiet during the movies. Last night = big dressed-up vam- ZINNEKE PARADE
pire ball. People with buckets on their heads and kids blowing on
selfmade trumpets... Nope, this parade is NOT the Rio
carnival. But for the 4.000 joining locals it’s a BIG thing with
www.bifff.org
months and months of preparations. That’s probably why
we only do it only once every two years. It’s really a do-it-
7 > 16 MAY 2010 yourself parade, and people use recycled material as much
as they can. Everybody always panics if it will rain or not,
LES NUITS BOTANIQUE MUSIC FESTIVAL because the fun only comes from standing in the sun with
Plants and music, just what we need in springtime. Les
300.000 spectators.
Nuits Botanique lasts for ten nights in the pretty botanical
gardens, with a selection of unknown indie bands and big-
www.zinneke.org
ger names in the scene (like Beirut, Stuart Staples, Woven
Hand). From rock to jazz, electronics and reggae, and
some dj’s in the bar to end the night. 29-30-31 MAY 2010
BRUSSELS JAZZ MARATHON
www.botanique.be You can run the marathon, or run for 3 days between 50
venues for 125 concerts. Big Belgian names play on the
7 MAY > 29 MAY 2010 Grand Place or the other city squares, while students and
rising stars just perform in bars. There aren’t enough jazz
KUNSTENFESTIVAL DES ARTS bars in Brussels, so they’ll do it on a few beer crates if
(ART FESTIVAL) necessary. Most concerts are free - check the programme
‘Kunstenfestival des Arts’ is a typical double name in the online.
two ofﬁcial Brussels languages (Dutch and French). But
don’t worry about languages. Most of the performances are www.brusselsjazzmarathon.be
from other countries, with subtitles in English. That’s what
it’s all about: showing some of the best Europe had to offer
on stage during the past year: music, standup comedy,
opera, street theatre. This festival has built an international
reputation over the years. For those who know Avignon
DEC
EMB
200 ER
9

30 MAY 2010 play in the park next to the Royal Palace, and when it’s
getting dark, more international bands take over the music
20 KILOMETERS OF BRUSSELS kiosk from 1841. The music stays intimate (singersongwrit-
Once a year, 25.000 people run half a marathon through
ers, weird country, electronic dub, ambient pop) which ex-
Brussels. Well, run... More like jogging sometimes... or
plains the title Feeërieën - something like magic fairy time.
walking fast. There are only a few professionals competing,
many ﬁt boys and girls, but also tax collectors, European
www.boterhammeninhetpark.be / www.feeerieen.be
Union Secretaries, and all our ambitious uncles with a beer
belly. You have to ﬁnish the trail in 4 hours to succeed - we
can even do that backwards! If you want to run too, be sure SEPTEMBER 2010 (not conﬁrmed yet)
to book your place well in time. Last year, the half-mara- SUNDAY WITHOUT CARS
thon was totally full in 3 days. Subscriptions usually start in If you just come from Bruges or Amsterdam, you’ll notice
March, and you have to be quick! the difference: where are the bikes? Nowhere. In Brussels,
people take their cars to go to the baker, even if the car
www.20kmdebruxelles.be/20km is parked further away than the baker. There is only one
exception to the crazy trafﬁc in this city: the Sunday Without
Cars. Suddenly, you can hear a bird whistle. It’s one of the
17 > 21 JUNE 2010 most beautiful days in the year, biking downhill on the
FÊTE DE LA MUSIQUE MUSIC FESTIVAL biggest boulevards.
8 o’clock. You stand right in front of the Royal Palace, with
the evening sun shining from behind the stage, and listen
OCTOBER 2010 (not conﬁrmed yet)
to Scooby Snacks by the Fun Lovin Criminals (and wonder
if the King would like it too). You’ll love this city if you had BRXL BRAVO CITY ART FESTIVAL
moments like that one. Like most Brussels festivals, this Alright, we know there are art festivals all over Europe.
one is free, featuring pop, jazz, hip-hop, salsa and French But this one is different: for € 7 (seven euro!) you get three
chanson – well, let’s say anything except grindcore metal full days, and it’s often not art as you know it. Brxl Bravo
and minimal tech. Tourists often stay in the centre, but this specializes in marathons of non-stop dancing or turntabling,
is a good time to check the stages in other neighbourhoods street events like a human domino next to the canal, and
like Marollen and Elsene / Ixelles. weird interventions in museums (like an artist who put a
mummie of himself next to the famous Egyptian one). In
www.fetedelamusique.be 2009, the second night was a ‘Nuit Blanche’: all-night par-
ties on parks and squares.
20-21 JULY 2010 www.brxlbravo.be
THE NATIONAL HOLIDAY
It’s like the 4th of July, but with good beer instead of stars
OCTOBER 2010 (not conﬁrmed yet)
and stripes. To celebrate the fact that we’ve had a crazy
and wonderful independent country since the 21st of July in BATARD PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL
1830, we have spectacular ﬁreworks and a military parade. Bâtard means bastard, but in a good way. This festival
But every Brusseleir knows the real party happens a day shows what Brussels is all about, with a very international
before (20 July), when locals get drunk, dance and sing mix of young underground musicians, dancers and actors.
to Belgian classics on the marketplace in the Marolles. If They do not only perform in a theatre, but also in people’s
you’re lucky, it rains, because only then it’s really Le Bal houses, bars or an old school. You have never heard of
National. any of them before, but everyone with the right sense of
adventure feels right in his / her place. Last year, they didn’t
reveal the names of the artists and the locations until the
23 TO 27 AUGUST 2010 day the festival started.
MUSIC IN THE PARK
Pissing in the bushes, groups of blowing dreadlocks, ear www.batard.be
damage after nine hours in the techno tent. How we love
the big festivals! But if you also feel like something else
once, you might enjoy ‘Boterhammen in het park’ and
‘Feeërieën’ iin Brussels. During lunch hours, local bands