There’s an unofficial four-day holiday weekend this week, with a day off on Thursday for Ascension and the practice of "making the bridge" to the weekend nudging many schools and offices to take Friday off too.
This long weekend allows a lot of extra time to check out Brussels history, either going back to the 16th-century royal court or just 100 years to the start of the Brussels bus company. We’ve also got a roundup of multilingual book clubs and storytelling for children and teens, including a rare event in Catalan.
Renaissance Festival
Coudenberg Family Day, Place des Palais 7 – Sunday, 10:00-15:00
Brussels loves celebrating its Renaissance past every year, culminating in the Ommegang, a formal medieval pageant that takes over the Grand Place on 1 to 3 July. The long run-up to that starts on Sunday – with a family day at the Coudenberg Palace, once home to Belgium’s home-grown emperor, Charles V.
Credit: Coudenberg
The museum will have some of the characters from the pageant, such as court lords and ladies and some flag bearers, as well as demonstrations of crossbow shooting and Spanish fencing. You can also dress up in costumes from the era. The Coudenberg museum also has an underground treasure hunt for children via an app for a €4 fee, one of the few app games to teach children about history.
Entrance to the palace is free for under-18s if they’re accompanied by an adult who pays €10.
Find more information here.
Big buses and fire trucks
100 years of the Brussels bus, Cinquantenaire park and the Tram Museum – Saturday and Sunday, 11:00-19:00
The original Brussels bus company celebrates its 100th birthday this weekend by parking 30 buses, old and new, on the esplanade of the Cinquantenaire park and offering free rides around the area and, via a shuttle, to the Tram Museum opposite Woluwe park.
The picture presents the three new types of bus for the STIB, the transport company of and for Brussels. Credit: Belga Archives
While looking at retro trams might not sound that exciting, what is fun is hopping on one of them for the most beautiful public transport trip in the city, through the trees to Tervuren, where there's a park, a great playground and plenty of ice cream to bribe small people. The museum (and the tram ride) is free this weekend.
Belle Époque trams will also be running along Avenue Louise and rue Royale on Thursday for a charge of €5 for adults and free for children under 6.
Find more information here and here.
Wavre fire brigade open-door weekend, Chaussée de Namur 115, Wavre – Saturday and Sunday from 10:00
For small children fascinated with rescue services, Belgian firefighters do wonderful open-door days to show what can go wrong and how they handle it. This weekend, the Wavre fire brigade will hold a weekend of activities, starting with a demonstration at 10:30 of how they handle large animals and dogs during a rescue.
Credit: Pompiers Wavre
They will also be showing how they handle a chip pan fire at 11:00 and 17:00, a car fire at 14:30 and a building fire at 15:30. If you can’t make this one, look out for the Zaventem fire brigade’s open door day on 31 May or the police village in central Brussels for the 21 July national day festivities.
Find more information here.
Multilingual book clubs and stories
Le Petit Monde d’Émile Jadoul, Wolubilis, Cours Paul-Henri Spaak 1, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert – Until 3 June
Art centre Wolubilis starts an exhibition this week based on the work of children’s author Émile Jadoul, aimed at children from 2 and up. The grand opening on Saturday afternoon is already full with a waiting list, but there are still places for a drawing workshop with the author for children aged 4-8 at 14:15 and 16:00. There will be other workshops until the exhibition closes on 3 June.
Find more information here.
Contes au Marché, Rue Rubens 95, Schaerbeek – Saturday, 11:00-11:45
Adrien Lociuro and his colleague Maëlle tell stories in French one Saturday a month at the Schaerbeek organic food market, Marché des Écuries van de Tram. Aimed at children aged 5 years old and up, all are welcome but are asked to sign up in advance. There’s a charge of €8 per child, but adults can listen in for free.
Find more information here.
Maëlle. Credit: Contes au Marché
Libronauti, Piola Piccola, Rue du Fort 15, Saint-Gilles- Saturday at 15:00 and 16:00
Young Italian readers get their own book club at the Saint-Gilles book oasis, Piola Piccola, even if they haven’t finished the book for the next meeting. There are two one-hour sessions, one for 10 years and up at 15.00 and another for children aged between 7 and 9 at 16.00. You are asked to buy the book for the meeting from the Piola Piccola bookshop.
Find more information here.
Catalá storytelling, Bimbi Books, Chaussée d’Ixelles 301, Ixelles – Saturday at 16:00
Bimbi Books in Ixelles runs storytelling in different European languages almost every Saturday, and it’s got a unique event this week, with stories in Catalan read by illustrator and teacher Laia Netto. Entry is €10 per family.
Find more information here.
Credit: Bimbi Books
Club Sandwich, Bibliothèque du Phare, Chaussée de Waterloo 935, Uccle – Saturday, 17:00-18:30
The Phare public library and media centre in Uccle is one of the most active in the city. Once a month, it organises a book club for teens in French to discuss recent favourites, discover new books, chat with other book lovers and have a snack.
Find more information here.
Sunday Storytime at Waterstones, Boulevard Adolphe Max 71-75, Brussels - Sunday, 11:30-12:30
Rachel, also known as The Storybook Haven, will be reading to children between the ages of 3 and 6 in the children’s book section upstairs. The event is free, but please tell the bookshop if you are planning to attend. Rachel is a qualified nurse who worked in childcare and now offers storytelling in English at birthday parties and at children’s homes.
Find more information here.
Credit: Waterstones
