Belgium’s new F-35 fighter jet will make its first public flypast on Tuesday during National Day celebrations in Brussels.
The day will begin with a Te Deum service at 10:00 in the Cathedral of St Michael and St Gudula in Brussels, combining ceremonial tradition with the wider festive programme.
The celebrations will get under way the night before, on Monday July 20, with the National Ball on Place du Jeu de Balle in the Marolles district of Brussels.
As usual, National Day itself will center on the deployment of military and civilian services in the heart of the capital. The parade is scheduled for 16:00 on Place des Palais.
This year’s parade will also include a moment of commemoration, five years after the floods that brought mourning to Belgium.
The public will be able to see the F-35 in the skies above Brussels during the event. The first aircraft, which are due to replace the F-16, arrived last autumn at Florennes air base in Namur province.
Belgium has ordered 34 F-35s from US manufacturer Lockheed Martin in a deal worth €4.5 billion. Defense will also use the opportunity to showcase its drone capabilities.
Before the parade, activities will be staged throughout the day from Brussels Park to Place Poelaert. Police will be stationed on and around Place Royale, Defence will be based in the Sablon area, and firefighters will gather on Rue de la Régence.
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Brussels Park will host a range of sport and leisure activities. A street hockey pitch will be installed ahead of the Hockey World Cup, which is due to take place in the second half of August in Wavre and elsewhere.
Folklore from across the country will also be on display. Particular attention will be given to the five carnival societies of Strépy-Bracquegnies, more than four years after the tragedy there and a few months after the trial of the driver responsible.
Seventy-five Gilles in full traditional costume will be in Brussels from midday, animating the streets of the Royal Quarter before being greeted by Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz at around 18:30 in the Sablon.
As every year, the Red Cross will play both a public and behind-the-scenes role during the national celebrations. It will parade 18 emergency vehicles in the motorised procession and run its village on Rue de la Régence.
Its front-line support operation will include 260 first-aiders, 12 medical posts and six ambulances on standby.
A number of cultural institutions will also take part. Belgian Beer World, at the Stock Exchange building, will offer free entry to all Belgian citizens on presentation of an identity card.
In the evening, Parc du Cinquantenaire will host the Belgian Party for the fifth year in a row. A line-up of Belgian artists will perform from 21:00, including TeddyBear, Tourist LeMC, Ghinzu, Camille Yembe, Pierre de Maere, Omdat Het Kan & Average Rob, Hamza and Zap Mama.
After the concerts, around 350 drones will accompany a laser show set to a DJ performance by Netsky.
The royal family is expected to attend the event, which will be followed by the traditional fireworks display at 23:00. Around 100,000 people attended last year.
Visitors are advised to use public transport and travel by metro to Schuman station. Access to the park will be via Rue de la Joyeuse Entrée.
Brussels public transport operator STIB will strengthen services from 20 July for the National Ball. The Noctis night buses, which normally run on Friday and Saturday nights from midnight to 03:00, will also run exceptionally on Monday.
On the following day, all four metro lines will run more frequently, with services every seven minutes and 30 seconds until the end of the day. After the Belgian Party, a final service will leave Merode at 00:50, with connections to lines 2 and 6 guaranteed at Arts-Loi.
Seven tram lines — 4, 7, 9, 10, 19, 25 and 81 — will also run more frequently and/or later than usual. In the Royal Quarter, several routes will be diverted or shortened because of the festivities.
STIB will also give the metro and pre-metro stations a distinctly Belgian soundtrack with a playlist of around 40 tracks spanning roughly two hours. The selection will cover several generations and styles, from Machiavelli and Gorky to Loïc Nottet, Regi and Average Rob.
The operator will also host an exhibition in the Sablon, in collaboration with the Tram Museum, featuring six generations of buses. According to STIB, the display marks the centenary of the Brussels bus in 2026.
Four museum vehicles will each represent a decade up to the 2000s. A bus in retro livery and a latest-generation electric bus will also be on show.
Brussels will not be the only city celebrating in black, yellow and red. In Namur, a 15-minute fireworks display will be launched from Pont des Ardennes on Monday July 20 at 23:00.
Earlier that day, from 18:00, a large public dance organized by Namur’s traders’ association will take place on Place Maurice Servais. Celebrations will continue there on 21 July from 11:00 with a giant urban barbecue, followed by a music quiz from 16:00, with registration required for both events.
