Culture beat – October 23

Don’t miss a free concert by The Voice Belgium judge BJ Scott at the Hard Rock Café on Thursday evening in aid of breast cancer charity Pink Ribbon. The Alabama-born singer songwriter follows the band Cocoa.

There’s more music at Festival des libertés (Liberty Festival) which runs until Saturday. Every year Flemish theatre KVS joins hands with the Théâtre National to present a fortnight of politically aware performances, exhibitions and discussions. The closing evening of the 2013 edition is packed solid with intercultural fare, including concerts by German-Nigerian singer Nneka and Belgian electro-pop outfit Superlux.

Fingers will be flying at the Boogie Woogie Festival at Woluwe-Saint-Pierre on Friday when brilliant pianists from home and abroad will be bashing out the blues. The 13th edition is themed Vive la France and features three French pianists: Fabrice Eulry, Philippe Lejeune and Jean-Paul Amoureux. They are joined by boogie woogie regulars, Belgian Renaud Patigny (event organiser) and Chris Conz from Switzerland, plus American talent Stephanie Trick.

Irish author Kevin Maher reads from his debut novel The Fields at Sterling Bookshop on Friday evening. ‘Fresh, beguiling and laugh-out-loud funny on every page,’ says The Guardian of the tale of adolescence in Ireland. Complimentary refreshments.

View Brussels as a city of style is the message at Mode Parcours 13: Style icon, one of Belgium’s key fashion happenings. MAD Brussels Mode and Design Center celebrates the 13th edition with more than 60 different events from Thursday to Sunday. Discover new collections, catwalk shows, unusual shop displays, late-night openings and art performances. Meeting point is MAD Brussels, 10 Place Nouveau Marché aux Grains.

Feeling nostalgic for the 1950s or fancy dressing up as style icons Audrey Hepburn and Liz Taylor? Then head to the Second LIFE Festival on Saturday at la Tentation in Rue de Laeken. There’s vintage shopping (clothes, jewellery, furniture and posters) plus Lindy Hop dance lessons and 1950s makeovers before a retro evening with Charleston dance initiation and live swing music. Plus refreshments, musical screenings and a tombola.

Black Friday: In the context of the four-month Europalia India festival, ‘Flageywood’ screens Indian director Anurag Kashyap’s harrowing reconstruction of the deadly 1993 Mumbai bombings on Friday October 28 at Flagey. A range of Indian wines is available by way of refreshment and/or respite from the emotional drama on screen.

Ghent’s Light Festival dazzled the public for the two years that it ran, but has been put on hold due to its prohibitive cost. This first edition of Brussels Light Festival scales it down to human size with an illuminated block party from October 31 to November 3. Spectators are invited for a free, evening stroll through the capital’s canal district, where they will experience electrified installations and performances. Italian lighting firm De Cagna presents its LED version of Pisa’s famous leaning tower (it towers some 20 metres). Lords of Lightning’s Tesla Coil Fight pits two electrified opponents against each other. There’s also a twice-nightly fireworks spectacle launched from canal barges. At the end of the trail is a campfire where you can warm up and enjoy food and drink.