Culture beat – July 3

The Belgium-USA match broke TV records in Belgium and the States last Tuesday. With the Red Devils’ next fixture at 18.00 in Brasilia on Saturday, get ready for a frenzy of football parties all evening. Join the crowds at the esplanade of Roi Baudouin Stadium, Heysel, The Football Village at Autoworld, Cinquantenaire Park (doors open from 16.00), or the Aloft Hotel, near Schuman, where the European Football House is screening matches (refreshments available). Alternatively, squeeze into any bar or café in the capital. While the plucky Belgians will be battling Argentina in the Brazilian capital’s tropical heat, rain and coller temperatures are forecast in Belgium on Saturday. Unfortunately, it looks like barbecues are ruled out.

It’s a meteorologically unstable start for the opening of Brussels Beach (July 4 to August 10) on the canal quay near Place Sainctelette. The annual free pop-up experience offers all the fun of the seaside: beach sports, family activities, food and drink stands from around the world, plus evening entertainment that includes DJ parties, live music and screenings of recent operatic productions thanks to La Monnaie. Returning for the second year is L’heure d’été, a cinematic collaboration with Galeries cinema and Brussels City. From July 5 to August there are indoor (at Cinéma Galeries) and outdoor screenings with an Italian flavour (the Mediterranean country took over the presidency of the European Council on July 1). Themed Rome and the Italian Riviera, the cinema classics include films by Piers Pasolini, Federico Fellini, and Ridley Scott’s Gladiator. The first indoor show on July 5 is Fellini’s semi-autobiographical Roma (1972) at 21.00, while the outdoor seasons kicks off with Roman Holiday by William Wyler on July 17 at 22.00 in the sport zone, Quai des Péniches. In case of rain, the films will be screened at Cinéma Galeries.

The annual party in the park Plazey Festival wraps up on Sunday, July 6 at Elisabeth park in Koekelberg. Friday’s programme includes cycling and an aperitif, Saturday afternoon a film screening and on Sunday afternoon join a picnic with family entertainment. All activities free.

The Forest contemporary art museum Wiels has a free and interactive tour for families on Sunday at 15.00. The Family Funday is a chance to explore the hidden corners of the former beer brewery (tours are free with an entrance ticket). Current exhibitions include the gender-exploring Summer of Photography show Robert Heinecken: Lessons in Posing Subjects, and rockabilly and blues musical tribute, Allen Rupperberg: No Time Left to Start Again and Again.

For a summer theatre fix, you can’t beat Festival Bruxellons!/Festival Brusellons! from July 11 to September 27. Celebrating its 15th anniversary, the festival delivers a mix of classic and contemporary theatre, and for the first time, it features plays in Dutch. There are 35 shows, all set in the idyllic surroundings of Karreveld castle in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean. The festival opens with a new family musical, Amarante by Belgian group Les Vaches Aztèques, staged by Michel Kacenelenbogen. Spectators can enjoy a pre-theatre buffet dinner and drink at the lakeside bar. The programme includes Le dîner de cons by Francis Veber, Trailleur pour dames by Feydeau, Trac by and with Bruno Coppens, Tussen vier handen with magician Jack Cooper and a clutch of shows for kids.

It’s the Flemish Community Day on July 11, marking the start of an 11-day celebration in the Flemish Region in honour of The Battle of the Golden Spurs when the Flemish defeated a French army near Kortrijk in 1302. Brussels plays host to a parade in the city centre, starting at Square de l’Europe and terminating in Place de la Monnaie with musicians and street artists. The Grand‘Place also has performances, including the annual Brussels Dances.

Outside Brussels

Belgian and international musicians turn out for Gent Jazz Festival, July 10 to 19, ranging from home-grown internationally-recognised singer Mélanie de Biasio, to phenomenal Italian pianist and composer Ludovico Einaudi. With Manu Katché, Ibrahim Maalouf, Dave Holland, Chick Corea and Gabriel Rio also on the playlist, the annual festival maintains its broad appeal. At De Bijloke, Ghent.

The ‘ardent city’ of Liège hosts one of the country’s unmissable summer music festivals from July 10 to 13. Now in its ninth year, Les Ardentes is the city’s top music event and has stretched its original rock/electro brief to a multi-genre and multi-generational musical bonanza. More than 60 Belgian and international artists perform in a quality programme of hip-hop, house, techno, soul, folk, pop, in addition to a solid serving of rock and electro. Placebo, Rita Oro, Selah Sue, Massive Attack and Belgian boy of the moment, Stromae, are all headlining acts. The festival enjoys a green park location in the city’s riverside Coronmeuse area. Places are still remaining for a four-day pass.

For a more reflective experience, Festival Eté Mosan is a series of 20 concerts in the bucolic setting of churches, abbeys, castles and farms dotted around the Mosane region of Wallonia. The event, now in its 38th year, opens on July 11 at Floreffe Abbey (Namur province) with the Belgian National Orchestra performing Strauss and Beethoven. The festival also pays tribute to the anniversaries of CPE Bach, Strauss and Leclair. Among the respected ensembles performing, are Ricercar Consort, Danel Quatuor, Bl!ndman and Roza Enfloreze.