Sunday will see the launch of the fourth edition of the award-winning Brussels cafés zine, Pintjes, with a launch event and panel chat in Forest just before the local derby between Union Saint-Gilloise and RSC Anderlecht.
Launched in 2024, Pintjes is a zine, a self-published limited-edition magazine, that celebrates the rich bar culture while scouting for the best cafés in the Belgian capital.
It was started by two long-term Brussels residents: Eoghan Walsh, writer of the Brussels Notes newsletter and founder of Brussels Beer City; and Selkies, an illustrator from Dublin now living in Brussels.
This fourth edition celebrates the Wiels Quarter in Forest and its famed bars, which are also a known stomping ground for Union Saint-Gilloise fans before games, given their proximity to the stadium. The area takes its name from the nearby Wiels building, once a large-scale brewery, and today serves as a contemporary art museum.
Dekkera cafe in Quartier Wiels. Credit: Dekkera
The pre-match launch event and panel chat is taking place on at 15:00 Sunday, 24 May) at Dekkera in Forest, with a lively chat with die-hard Unionistes and experienced café cruisers.
Joining Walsh and Selkies are the Editor-in-Chief of Le Fooding Magazine, Elisabeth Debourse, radio presenter at Bruzz, Gunnar Cheyns, and the owner of Dekkera café, Sylvain Lecomte.
Together with these special guests, there will be a discussion on what makes the neighbourhood so special, their first experiences of match days at Union’s Marien Stadium, and their preferred warm-up routines.
"The only thing I look forward to more than spending a sunny Sunday afternoon at the Stade Marien grinding Union’s opponents into dust, is spending a couple of hours trawling through the neighbourhood bars in the streets around the stadium, soaking up the atmosphere, joining up with friends, and really getting into the ‘spirit’ of things," says Eoghan Walsh.
"If we’ve captured even a little bit of that energy in this edition of Pintjes, then it’s mission accomplished."
In the zine’s fourth edition, readers can expect characterful stadium boozers, traditional pre-match supporters' drinking holes and dive bars to drown your post-match sorrows.
They will also learn the stories of recent arrivals who have plugged into the unique atmosphere of this football-mad corner of Brussels – "even if their preferred colours are mauve and white," (the colours of rivals RSC Anderlecht).
Pintjes is a limited edition zine celebrating Brussels’ best cafés and bars.
"I’m not a big football fan, and I hadn’t spent much time in this neighbourhood before we started research, but this is what Pintjes is all about: landing in an area of the city you don’t know, wanting to go for a beer but not knowing where to start; Pintjes has you covered!" says Selkies.
Pintjes Vol. 4 will be released at the launch party at Dekkera (Rue Pierre Decoster 109, 1190 Forest) on Sunday, 24 May at 15:00, alongside the sale of a very limited number of exclusive prints from this and previous editions.
The zine will be produced in extremely limited quantities, and you can read an excerpt from the latest edition here.
