How ING Belgium promotes music in Belgium, offering customers special access to concerts and shows

When Brussels’ Palais 12 music venue changed its name to the ING Arena in 2023, it marked not only a collaboration between Brussels Expo and ING Belgium, but the launch of a new international identity for the concert and performance space.

The venue in Heysel reopened in 2013 to stage large-scale shows in the city, providing both seated and standing places. Its rebranding demonstrated the financial institution’s ongoing commitment to supporting culture in the country.

Long reputed for its championing of modern and contemporary art, ING also promotes musical talent. The Palais 12 collaboration epitomises both the venue and the bank’s mission to create emotion for their audiences.

It achieves this via the ING Benefits package, which enables customers to book ING reserved tickets for some concerts. This programme sets aside hundreds of tickets and is a real bonus as so many concerts sellout quickly. On top of that, clients can enjoy VIP access to shows if they are among the first 300 to snap up tickets. They can also tick ‘ING Priority Access’ to gain entry 20 to 30 minutes ahead of the show.

The programme at the ING Arena is highly diverse with a mix of big names, rave dance events and international touring acts. While the spring concert agenda and summer Star Academy shows are currently all sold-out, tickets are now selling for the autumn and winter season as well as 2025.

Exemplifying the venue’s eclectic offering, golden poetry and rap duo Scylla & Sofiane Pamart perform on 12 October, while cult film Les Choristes - with the European Philharmonica and children’s choir - are in concert on 26 October. Meanwhile, virtual pop star Hatsune Miku takes to the stage on 28 October in a special 10th anniversary tour.

Summer festivals

Two of Belgium’s top music festivals have long partnered with ING. Les Ardentes (pictured) in Liège (11-14 July) and Lokerse Feesten (2-11 August) in Lokeren both offer the ING Experience. Via the banking app, customers can enter to win VIP treatment at either festival. Both festivals have signed on to ING+, which enables the bank’s customers to get a discount on tickets if they aren’t lucky enough to win any.

The Liège festival is one of the top boutique music festivals in the country. It boasts a worldwide reputation for its international line-up of 120 rock, pop and hip-hop talent with a focus on contemporary artists. Some 75,000 festivalgoers are expected at the green setting of Rocourt on the banks of the Meuse river.

Lokerse Feesten, near Ghent, is a musical feast with a different genre of music programmed on each of its 10 days. This means it attracts a broad audience and the once small city festival is increasingly attracting international artists, drawn by its quality and conviviality.

ING’s support for music also extends to classical concerts. It has a well-established partnership with the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo (pictured), which gives customers a 30% discount on concerts with the promo code MUCHING.

The internationally renowned music chapel provides quality training for exceptional talents as well as staging a busy music season. It proposes more than 90 concerts and master classes, including prestige ones that mentor young talents, associate artist concerts, surprise lunchtime concerts and laboratory and discovery concerts.

Photos: (main image) courtesy ING Arena; Thomas Nelissen; courtesy Les Ardentes; courtesy QEMC