31 July 2026
It's always a good idea to visit Brussels, whatever the time of year. Will you be visiting for work or purely for fun? Planning a weekend or staying longer? This overview of the year's major events will add some colour to your stay. It's a handy chronological overview for every season. All you have to do is choose.
Let's hear it for spring! Nature is sprouting and we're shaking off the winter blues. So long cocooning, it's been nice. Time to celebrate life and friendship and meet each other outdoors again. How about at a fantastic festival with the best music, films or performances, for instance? Or at Pride, of course!
Spring returns in festive fashion with the acrobatic Up! Festival, the benchmark for contemporary circus in Belgium and beyond (biennial). * Followed closely by the annual high mass for musical adventurers BRDCST Festival, in one of the world's top concert venues: Ancienne Belgique * The Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival is the craziest, most Brussels-based film festival in the world. Don't miss its legendary Vampire Ball! * Every spring, the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken open their doors for almost 3 weeks. It's a feat of Art Nouveau architecture and a botanical wonderland all rolled into one. *
KlaraFestival is held at various cultural centres in Brussels and is the country's largest classical music festival. If you want to go wild with more than 15,000 other ravers, don't miss Rave Rebels at ING Arena! * Prefer to feel the cool wind blowing through your hair? Then, Hangar Festival, the two-day electronic music festival along Brussels' canal, is for you! * Art Brussels has been a fixture of the international art calendar for more than half a century. It's one of the most renowned contemporary art fairs in Europe. * Les Nuits at leading concert venue Botanique marks the start of festivals season. It's the ideal promotion of local Belgian music talent, rubbing shoulders with internationally renowned artists. * You'll find a unique mix of music, art and architecture at the Horst Arts & Music Festival just outside Brussels. It's definitely worth the detour. *
The renowned international Queen Elisabeth Competition is a springboard for talented young violinists, pianists, singers and cellists. The concerts are of the highest level. * Lovers of pioneering performing arts love the Kunstenfestivaldesarts. The international arts festival takes over the whole of Brussels for three weeks. * Brussels Pride is the celebration of the (inter)national LGBTIQA+ community and its friends and allies! * Lotto Brussels Jazz WE has all of Brussels on its feet! * The Zinneke Parade brings the people of Brussels together. Every two years, this surreal parade descends on the streets of the capital. *
11/03 > 21/03 Klarafestival
March 2028 Up ! Festival ⚠️ biennial!
April BRDCST Festival
April BIFFF - Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival
Mid-April Opening of the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken
April Rave Rebels
April Hangar Festival
15/04 > 18/04 Art Brussels
13/05 > 30/05 Nuits Botanique
09/05 > 02/06 The Queen Elisabeth Competition
May Horst Arts & Music Festival
07/05 > 29/05 Kunstenfestivaldesarts
May The Brussels Pride
21/05 > 23/05 Lotto Brussels Jazz WE
May 2028 Zinneke Parade ⚠️ biennial!
May - June Brussels Renaissance Festival
Ah, the summer…time to get your summer clothes out of their boxes again! It's also the perfect time to buy cheap vintage clothes by the kilo! We stay out late, chatting on the terraces and the abundant vitamin D brings colour to our moods and cheeks. When you think of the summer, you think of festivals and all kinds of outdoor events. The stages are set amongst the greenery, hosting music festival after music festival and even Belgium's national day celebrations. And why not travel back in time some five hundred years!
Festival Musiq3 at Flagey presents three vibrant days of jazz, world and classical music. * Summer really starts with Couleur Café. The festival brings the best funk, hip-hop, reggae, dance, dub, soul and Latin to the capital. * The highlight of the Brussels Renaissance Festival is the Ommegang in the first week of July. This impressive procession - with some 1,400 extras in traditional costumes - recreates Charles V and his son Crown Prince Philip's glorious entry into Brussels. * Brussels' Grand-Place (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) is, of course, the most beautiful square in the world. Every two years in August, the renowned Flower Carpet adds to its splendour. * The Bal National is an exuberant popular festival on the eve of Belgium's National Day. Highlights of the day's festivities include the impressive military parade and firework display.
Can't wait for the new cultural season? Then come and discover new dance forms as early as August at the Brigittines Summer Festival in Les Brigittines * or go wild to techno music under the capital's motorway bridges at the XRDS Crossroads Festival * Brussels Design Week and RendezVous bring some colour to the end of the summer holidays, as Brussels' galleries pull out all the stops. * Going back to school is made easier by the return of the Comic Strip Festival, a festival for all the family.
> Beginning of July Brussels Renaissance Festival
End of June Festival Musiq3
End of June Couleur Café
Beginning of July Ommegang
20/07 Bal National
21/07 Belgium National Day
13/08 > 16/08/26 Flower carpet ⚠️ biennial!
14/08 > 29/08 Brigittines Summer Festival
14/08 & 15/08 XRDS Crossroads Festival
10/09 > 13/09 RendezVous
24/09 > 04/10 Brussels Design Week
19/09 & 20/09 Comic Strip Festival
Sometimes it comes late, after a long Indian summer, other years it arrives right on time, whenever it happens, make sure you catch the kaleidoscope of colours in Brussels' parks and forests. be quick, though, because the golden magic is over before you know it. A sudden, heavy rain shower is never far away either. Fortunately, you can dive into Brussels' most iconic cultural institutions for a dazzling array of events! Drawing, jazz, architecture, music... there is something for everyone!
The 2027 edition of Europalia will be announced shortly. The biennial arts festival highlights a different European country for each edition, but also increasingly features non-European countries. * For Museum Night Fever, we dive into Brussels' museums... after dark! The current exhibitions are enriched with various activities and after parties until late into the night.
Artonov is an innovative festival featuring performing and visual arts in unique architectural interiors. * International art fair ArtOnPaper is your annual rendezvous for contemporary, modern and antique drawing art. * Do you love comics, cosplay, gaming, anime, films and TV series? Then Comic Con will make your wildest dreams come true! * Listen! is the first Brussels urban festival dedicated to alternative electronic music. * If you want to go wild with more than 15,000 other ravers, don't miss Rave Rebels at the ING Arena! * Winter Wonders, in Brussels’ city centre, starts at the end of November and runs until early January. It is one of the most popular Christmas markets in Europe.
Europalia ⚠️biennial!
02/10 > 4/10 ArtOnPaper
17/10 Museum Night Fever
04/10 > 23/10 Artonov Festival
24 & 25/10 Comic Con Brussels
21/11 Listen! Festival
November Rave Rebels
27/11 > 03/01/27 Winter Wonders
In winter, when the days get shorter, Brussels gets a lot more festive. The end-of-year festivities beckon and, with a bit of luck, you'll be treated to a lovely layer of snow. Let yourself be tempted by an artisanal or artistic Christmas market. With a glass of mulled wine in hand, you'll waltz through, with an inevitable smile on your face. Yet there's so much more: jazz, art, photography, contemporary dance, pop culture…
It's all about Winter Wonders in the centre of Brussels, with one of Europe's most popular Christmas markets. * In Brussels, January is known as Jazzuary! Visit the Brussels Jazz Festival and you'll understand why! * With Ceramic Brussels, the capital has a brand-new international art fair that specialises in contemporary ceramics.
BRAFA, also held in January, is one of Europe's most prestigious art fairs, featuring exceptional works from antiquity to the 21st century. * Photography and film lovers adore the month-long PhotoBrussels festival, which focuses on contemporary photography, and Anima, the renowned international animated film festival for all ages. * Adepts of Asian pop culture will be over the moon at Made in Asia, which showcases all the latest manga, anime, game and cosplay crazes. * Design and architecture enthusiasts get their money's worth at Collectible, the fair for contemporary design and BANAD, the event which opens the doors of some of the capital's unique Art Deco and Art Nouveau houses. * The River Jazz Festival - a collaboration between three Brussels jazz houses - brings the best of the (inter)national jazz scene to Brussels. * Finally, KlaraFestival is held at various cultural centres in Brussels and is the country's largest classical music festival.
> 03/01 Winter Wonders
Europalia ⚠️biennial!
14/01 > 23/01 Brussels Jazz Festival
20/01 > 24/01 Ceramic Brussels
24/01 > 31/01 BRAFA - Brussels Antiques & Fine Arts Fair
21/01 > 21/02 PhotoBrussels Festival
12/02 > 15/02 Bright Festival
19/02 > 28/02 Anima
Made in Asia
13/03 > 28/03 River jazz Festival
11/03 > 14/03 Collectible
06/03 > 21/03 BANAD Festival
11/03 > 21/03 Klarafestival
