Events and Festivals in Belgium
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Whether it’s a local party or a massive national festival, nothing’s more frustrating than missing out on major events on your travels. To make sure you’re at the most exciting events in Belgium check out the HostelBookers roundup of what’s happening when. We’ve got the lot covered!
Violinists Busking at the Festival
Ghent Festival - Belgium
When: 18 July 2009 - 27 July 2009
The Ghent Festival (or Gentse Feesten) is one of the leading open-air festivals in Europe. Taking place in Ghent every July, it promises visitors a whole host of artistic and cultural events, along with a fair bit of food and beer too.
In recent years, the festival has attracted upwards of 1.5 million visitors who flood the historic city and lap up the performances on display. As a result, it carries an exciting, vibrant atmosphere that sets it apart from many others.
Now over 150 years old, the event basically combines four separate parts: jazz, street, busking and dance festivals are all in the mix, filling the city’s streets for over a week with various flavors of music and artsy endeavor.
There are also two great bonuses to the Ghent Festival. Firstly, many of the concerts and performances are completely free. Secondly, the festival was initially conceived as, well, an opportunity to get drunk. While it may continue in a slightly more sophisticated form today, at its heart there’s a pleasingly booze-fueled edge to proceedings.