What’s on this week: 3-9 December

“Whenever you’re in trouble, just yelp for help!” If you recognise these lines, or the French version of them, then your child watches Paw Patrol and will love you forever should you pick up tickets to the live stage version this weekend. (In French) 4-5 December, Palais 12, Avenue de Miramar

If you’re facing a bit of an identity crisis being an expat, you are not alone. Trailing spouses are particularly vulnerable to confusion about their place in this new world. If this sounds familiar, sign up for Reshaping Your Identity at the Brussels Women’s Club. Tanya Arler, author of Unpack: A Guide to Life as an Expat Spouse offers tools to help regain that sense of self you might have misplaced when touching down in Belgium. 10 December 10:30-12:30, Rue au Bois 509 (Woluwe-Saint-Pierre)

Due to popular demand, the exhibition Pushing Back the Walls at the Horta Museum has been extended into January. Five artists each got a room in Victor Horta’s former home and studio to wallpaper any way they chose. They worked with artisans to create the temporary wallpaper, which they designed after considering Horta’s work and style. The results are smashing. Until 16 January, Rue Américaine 27 (Saint-Gilles)

A devoted group of expats stage the holiday concert The Snowman once again this year. An introduction to which instruments represent which animals is followed by a concert with wholly new narration. It’s a funny twist on a classic story and good for all ages. 5 December 15.00 & 17.30, Auderghem Cultural Centre, Blvd Du Souverain 183

A four-day opening festival at Bozar kicks off Halaqat, a year-long project by the Goethe Institute and Bozar that aims to explore and strengthen the intriguing cultural links and exchanges between Europe and the Arab world. This festival programme features music and film, including a screening of Little Palestine (pictured) and a talk with the director, who documented daily life in the Yarmouk refugee camp during the siege by IS between 2011 and 2015. 4-7 December, Bozar, Rue Ravenstein 23

The Humo Rock Rally is a months-long competition that makes stars of bands that didn’t even win. So you can imagine how good the winners are. Find out this weekend why Meskerem Mees won the biennial event last year and hear her hit single “Joe”, which has won hearts across Belgium. You might not do a lot of crowd surfing, but you will drift on the soft cloud of her voice for days to come. Sura Sol opens. 5 December 20.00, Botanique, Rue Royale 236 (Saint-Josse)

How did we all get through the last 21 months? Resilience, dammit. Bozar’s Starts Prize rewards artists, researchers and IT-ers who help us find it by creating solutions for today’s – and tomorrow’s – challenges. These art-science projects are presented in an exhibition that get us thinking about our daily use of new technologies and how arts, science and technology collide – for better or for worse. 3 December to 9 January, Rue Ravenstein 23

French-Mexican soprano Déborah Salazar, Lithuanian pianist Monika Dars and Flanders Symphony Orchestra solo clarinettist Daniel Mourek are coming together at Full Circle House to interpret masterpieces by Schubert, Schumann and Brahms. 10 December 20.00, Chaussée de Vleurgat 89 (Ixelles)

The Goethe Institute and La Loge arts space present Constellations for Futures, a programme of talks, film screenings and performances at the intersection of ecology, community, and science. All events are livestreamed online as well. Until 4 December, La Loge, Rue de l’Ermitage 86 (Ixelles)

OUTSIDE BRUSSELS

After a seven-year absence, Holiday on Ice is back in Belgium. This year’s edition of the colourful, festival ice skating show is called Supernova and features 40 international pros performing on (and above) the ice amid a glittering 3D set. Fun for the whole family. 3-5 December, Lotto Arena, Schijnpoortweg 119, Antwerp

A Christmas mystery in a castle starring elves and Santa Clause. They don’t call this live performance ‘Kerstmagie’ for nothing: You follow the story of the singing elves whose voices are stolen from them by moving from room to room in one of Belgium’s glorious castles, completely decked out in full holiday décor. There are special effects and an interactive element to this annual show, which is performed in French in Wallonia and in Dutch in Flanders. 4-26 December, across Belgium

Actors from the classic WW2 series Band of Brothers join US, Belgian and German veterans in Bastogne for the 77th Nuts Weekend, which commemorates the legendary Battle of the Bulge. The Bastogne War Museum hosts exhibitions and events, including re-enactments (pictured), parades, book signings and the traditional nut-throwing game. The event is named after Brigadier General Anthony Clement McAuliffe, who famously retorted ‘Nuts’ to the German offer of surrender or annihilation during the besiege of Bastogne in the winter of 1944. The deadly conflict proved to be the final major offensive by the German army. 10-12 December, Colline de Mardasson 5, Bastogne (Luxembourg province)

Photos, from top: Courtesy Nickelodeon; ©Paul Louis; ©Abdallah Al-Khatib; work by Špela Petrič, photo by Miha Fras; courtesy Bastogne War Museum; courtesy Holiday on Ice. Sorry! Our prize giveaway has now closed and the winners have been notified.