Zinneke Parade to return after four-year hiatus

After an absence of four years, the Zinneke Parade will be held again on Saturday 14 May at 15.00 in the centre of Brussels, Bruzz reports. The theme of this year's biennial procession is “trompe l'oeil” - optical illusions.

The theme was originally chosen by the people of Brussels for the planned event in 2020 that was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The 17 “zinnodes”, the groups that walk along in the procession, have therefore had even more time to fully perfect their installations and choreography.

A total of 1,150 people will participate in the Zinneke Parade, including 115 artists. They come from all over the country.

"The desire to celebrate and do things together is certainly not an illusion, but the culmination of a lot of effort and stubbornness, of a need to laugh and shake things up,” the organisers say. “The Zinneke Parade is resilient, unifying, a bit cheeky but above all full of life."

The Zinneke Parade focuses on artistic work which creates an awareness of the role of the individual in society and public space. This year, the theme will further explore how we have all been dependent on each other during the health crisis and how we can rethink our connections with each other in a social and societal context.

The first parade passed through Brussels in 2000, in the context of Brussels as European capital of culture and as a celebration of the city's multicultural identity.