This Sunday, Brussels and Flanders will be engulfed in laughter – at least that’s the promise of the 2026 Heritage day event, which has made humour its central theme.
Erfgoeddag, which reads as [Airf-khoot-dakh] in Dutch, is an annual Flemish cultural event held on the first Sunday after the Easter Holidays, which coincides with 26 April this year. Hundreds of free activities are set to take place.
There is a rich programme of guided tours, exhibitions, workshops, games, demonstrations and many other activities – all of them completely for free. That makes for a total of 737 activities in 247 different municipalities and towns. Note that the language of the activities is usually Dutch.
The event is intended to celebrate Flanders’ and Brussels’ "tangible and intangible heritage" with wide participation from museums, archives, documentation centres, libraries, local heritage centres and organisations dedicated to folk culture.
Humour, past and present
Annually, a central theme is chosen and this year it’s all about humour – the past and present.
“Laughing is healthy, and laughing together even more so. Humour is also special because it is strongly bound to time, place and context. What was funny in the past, for example, might feel a bit bizarre today. And vice versa,” reads the announcement on the Heritage day website.
“Double meanings, irony, gallows humour, crude jokes, mockery and absurd humour, indignation and anger: they all contribute to the spectrum of humour. What’s more, laughter can bring people together. All of this makes it a perfect theme for Heritage Day.”
Event list
You can find more information about the events through erfgoeddag.be and the erfgoeddag app. They will mostly take place tomorrow, Sunday, 26 April.
Brussels: at the Broodhuis, Manneken Pis takes center stage as a symbol of Brussels mockery and satire, with a focus on his role in prints and criticism. At KBR, visitors can discover medieval humour in manuscripts and create their own "medieval meme".
Flemish Brabant (Overijse, Leuven, Diest): in Overijse, the exhibition on GAL presents sharp political satire. In Leuven, comedian Roosje Pertz delves into the city archives for a humorous performance. In Diest, Kamiel De Bruyne provides playful interventions with absurd signs in the city museum De Hofstadt.
Antwerp province (Antwerp, Bornem): in Antwerp, comedy café The Joker celebrates its anniversary with a live recording of FOKCAST featuring Alex Agnew and Yasmine Van Suetendael. In Bornem, Marc De Bel presents a humorous storytelling session in the abbey library.
West Flanders (Knokke-Heist, Roeselare): in Knokke-Heist, the HEY Museum forms the beating heart, featuring caricaturists, cartoons from the Cartoon Festival, and stand-up comedy, complemented by activities at the For Freedom Museum and the Comic Strip Festival. In Roeselare, Rodenbach Brewery presents a humorous storytelling performance in the historic brewing hall, concluding with music.
East Flanders (Aalst, Assenede): in Aalst, the Academy of Carnival Arts opens its doors with workshops, demonstrations, and lectures on carnival culture and satire. In Assenede, the exhibition “Lof der Zotheid” showcases work by Herr Seele and Kamagurka, where absurdism and social criticism converge.
Limburg (Hasselt, Genk): in Hasselt, a digital exhibition showcases historical April Fools’ jokes from newspapers. In Genk, visitors discover during tours and workshops how humour made life in the mines bearable.
FARO, the Flemish support centre for cultural heritage, coordinates and facilitates Heritage Day and Heritage Weeks in Flanders and Brussels.
