What’s on this week: 31 August-6 September

There is so much happening during Brussels Design September it’s pretty impossible to not be intrigued by one of them. More than 100 events and activities related to this highlight of the capital’s autumn calendar include exhibitions, workshops, talks, markets and tours. Will it be the Buy Now, Pay Later show on eco design at MAD? A talk by the visionary industrial Welsh designer Ross Lovegrove? How about a stroll along the Vintage Route or the outrageously popular Brussels Design Market? Throw a dart at the programme and get started. 6-30 September, across Brussels

‘Enjoying’ cycling through the streets of Brussels might seem like a tall order, but Bike Experience promises to deliver in its After-work Cycle in the City. The free coaching programme occasionally offers its After-work session in English, and the next one is on Wednesday. A coach will help you improve your urban cycling skills and routes and help those of you too apprehensive about taking to two wheels in the capital to get over your fears. It ends in a drink so you can chat with like-minded peeps. And if you don’t yet have a bike, Bike Experience will lend you one. 5 & 15 September and 3 October

Sure, one can visit an art gallery anytime, but during Brussels Gallery Weekend, there is a helpful map produced to make it easy to get from one to the other, and there is a festive atmosphere overall. There is also a special exhibition, Generation Brussels, which introduces buyers and the curious to the 20- and 30-somethings producing art in the capital. The Off Programme includes non-galleries who are getting in on the act, includes museums and performance spaces. So much on offer, and all for free. 6-9 September, across Brussels

Have you signed up for The Color Run yet? You must do so by Saturday to take part in Sunday’s popular 5k event that transforms jogging crowds into a moving, kaleidoscopic splatter-art piece. Dress in white to make the most of being sprayed with coloured powder (washable corn starch) as you pass through the run’s different stages. Celebrations then culminate in a mass throwing of colour packets to create a rainbow cloud. And it’s all for good cause: the Think-Pink breast cancer charity. 2 September from 13.00, start at Tour & Taxis

It seems that painters get most of the oohs and aahs when it comes to the visual arts, which has kind of left drawing in the red-headed stepchild category. Which, as the redheaded stepchild will tell you, is terribly unfair. Because this child has a unique view of the matured classics and the cutting-edge contemporaries, linking the two. This child is both influenced by the eldest and a mentor to the youngest. The people of Brussels seem to be coming around, and this fourth edition of Art on Paper at Bozar is even bigger, with several themed exhibitions. 6-9 September, Bozar, Rue Ravenstein 23

A brand new event in Brussels, 3days4ideas brings several cultural venues, including La Bellone, Beursschouwburg and Globe Aroma, together for discussions, stories and opportunities to break bread with a number of thinkers and activists. The goal is “to share and to gather our forces, our resources and our acts of resistance”. Some activities include a talk with VUB legal theory professor Laurent de Sutter on the intersections of law, rights and transgression; a workshop on words, language and speaking out with author and philosopher Maria Kakogianni; and a woman-only walk around the neighbourhood to discuss domestic violence. The 20+ events are all free, but registration is required, and this is definitely not a spectator sport: Come ready to meet, learn and talk about what makes you – and society – tick.

It’s the seventh edition of Eat! Brussels Drink! Bordeaux and yet it feels like an old friend. It’s in the lovely yet familiar Brussels Park. Ten of Brussels best chefs – whose restaurants you may have already visited – are on hand to pair their bites with, you guessed it, wine from the Bordeaux region. Add to all this cosy comfort workshops on wine pairing, pastry chefs and cheesemakers and the history of beer brewing (because Belgium). Note: This event is cashless, so don’t forget your plastic. 6-9 September, Brussels Park, Rue Royale & Rue de la Loi

The new cultural season is about to begin! Prepare yourself for the autumn – and beyond – at Halles Saint-Géry’s free Culture Market, a veritable who’s who in Brussels arts scene. The event, which stretches out into the surrounding neighbourhood’s many  bars, includes info but also performances, concerts and other activities that show you who these players – museums, theatres, cinemas, etc – really are. It’s not only a chance for a preview of coming attractions: Organisers hope to get people curious who never head through the doors of a performance venue or exhibition space. 31 August to 1 September, Halles Saint-Géry, Place Saint-Géry and surroundings

Brussels-based conceptual artist Sarah Basha spent three years visiting residents of the Sainte-Monique nursing home and day centre who have Alzheimer’s disease. The result is an exhibition and accompanying book What Remains. The focus is on what we remember, what we cherish and what remains beyond that which is altered by time and illness. It opens next week during Global Alzheimer's Awareness Month. Alzheimer Europe reports that up to nine million people across the continent could be faced with Alzheimer’s by 2030. Opening reception 6 September 18.00, exhibition runs until 6 October, 151 Gallery, Chaussée de Wavre 147 (Ixelles)

The Forest Sounds Festival is a wonderful way to end your summer festival schedule, with world music, jazz and psychedelia filling the air. It’s eco- and family-friendly and includes a bunch of workshops on cool stuff, like making an ‘imaginary herb book’ and your own musical instruments. It’s all free. 1 September 13.00-1.00, Parc de Forest, Place Rochefort (Forest)

OUTSIDE BRUSSELS

You’ve only got a few days left to get the family to 3D World Magic & Fun at the coast. The popular annual attraction’s big draw are the many 3D installations that create great photos when your kids – or you – pose with them. You can be seen milking a cow, for instance, or being swallowed whole by a dinosaur. You can also create yourself in 3D and don a headset for a virtual-reality experience. Until 2 September, Kursaal Oostende, Kursaal-Westhelling 12, Ostend

Le Mundaneum, one of Belgium’s quirkier attractions, celebrates its 20th birthday next week with a special exhibition on the (never-endingly fascinating) history of the place, a presentation by Google (also celebrating 20 years and inseparable from the Mundaneum – known as the ‘internet on paper’) and themed guided tours. There’s no better time to see what the mad Mundaneum is all about. 6-9 September, 76 Rue de Nimy, Mons

Photos: Design September courtesy Inge Lagae, The Colour Run courtesy event, Eat! Brussels Drink! courtesy event, 3D World courtesy event