With September on the doorstep, this is the last proper summer weekend. But before everyone gets back into the swing of normal work or school life, there is still plenty to enjoy in Brussels and beyond.
From a festival in an abbey to board games, bats and discovering human passions in the park, here's what's on this weekend.
Art, music and culture
Forest Sounds Festival, Forest Abbey, Friday 29 and Saturday 30 August
What better way to end the summer than by going to a festival in one of the most beautiful abbeys in Brussels? This is the 9th time the festival is organised to close out the capital's summer season in style before the dreaded rentrée.
Credit: Forest Sounds
For this edition, there will be two stages, 15 artists, DJ sets, roaming performances, an associative village, and a family zone. While Sounds is usually free, revellers are asked for a non-obligatory "fair price" of €5 this year – in an attempt to safeguard the festival's future.
Find more information here.
Khorós by Berlinde De Bruyckere, Bozar, until Sunday 31 August
With Khorós, Belgian artist Berlinde De Bruyckere presents a selection of her oeuvre from the past 25 years, in dialogue with kindred spirits she describes as "compagnons de route." For her, the Greek word Khorós refers to the group of singers and dancers in Greek tragedies.
Khorós by Berlinde De Bruyckere. Credit: Bozar
For those looking for an exhibition somewhat off the beaten track, this is an interplay of voices, shared themes, and dialogues. It features work by Lucas Cranach the Elder, Peter Buggenhout, Patti Smith, and Pier Paolo Pasolini, among others.
Find more information here.
Afrique En Couleurs Festival, Tour & Taxis, Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 August
Sunshine or not, the tenth edition of the 'Afrique en Couleurs' is determined to bring the heat, riches and southern atmosphere to Brussels one last time before the summer ends this weekend – for free.
Credit: L'Afrique en Couleur
For two days, the festival offers participants a cultural, culinary, artistic, pictorial and melodic journey through Africa. Creators from all backgrounds will present their works, stage shows, and gastronomy, showcasing the diversity sheltered by the captivating continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean.
Find more information here.
Brussels Games Festival, The EGG (Anderlecht), 29 to 31 August
Do you like games? With three days of fun and sharing around board games (with hundreds available to play), role-playing games, miniature painting workshops, numerous tournaments, and the presence of passionate clubs and associations, this might be the place for you.
Credit: Brussels Games Festival
The festival is open to everyone, stressing that they want to create a friendly, inclusive, and accessible atmosphere. And for its tenth edition, it is celebrating in style: two special late-night sessions will run until 03:00 at night.
Find more information here.
Out and about
Bat festival, Rouge-Cloître (Auderghem), Saturday 30 August
Those who want to end the summer with an exceptional evening have come to the right place. The Bat Festival will be held at the Rouge-Cloître on the outskirts of Brussels – an ideal site for these nocturnal creatures, with its trees, ponds, old buildings, and orange-lit streetlights, less harmful to the kings and queens of the night.
Pipistrellus bats. Credit: Brussels Environment/Yves Adams
Participants can meet with associations and experts, work with park rangers, build their own bat house (with the help of eco-road workers) or ever fo for a walk with a forest ranger to de-mystify the vampiric creatures.
Find more information here.
The Pavilion of Human Passions, Parc du Cinquantenaire, until Sunday 31 August
Few places in Brussels capture the imagination so strongly as this unassuming pavilion right in the heart of the Parc du Cinquantenaire. Designed by a young Victor Horta, it houses a compelling artwork by Jef Lambeaux: a monumental relief that depicts human passions in all their raw power: nudity, pain, desire, and death.
The Pavilion of Human Passions. Credit: Museums in the Park
For a long time, the work was considered too shocking to display to the public, and it remained behind closed doors for years, shrouded in secrets and speculation. Time to discover it for yourself?
Find more information here.
Put on your dancing shoes
Brussels Open Air Festival, various places, Saturday 30 August
A year after club culture was officially recognised as intangible cultural heritage in Brussels, the city wants to showcase the vitality of the local music scene through a one-of-a-kind festival, dedicated entirely to open-air events.
DJ Boris Brejcha performs at the Royal Palace Open Air festival, August 2024. Credit: Belga/Christian Neyt
With over 10,000 people expected, this celebration aims to highlight the diversity, energy, and dynamism of Brussels' nightlife by calling attention to the collectives, clubs, labels, and promoters who keep it alive and vibrant.
Find more information here.
