Belgium’s brewers will extend this year’s 26th Belgian Beer Weekend into a 10-day celebration in September, the Belgian Beer Culture Days, to mark 10 years since Belgian beer culture was recognised by Unesco.
The Belgian Brewers, the trade association representing many breweries across the country, announced the expanded event on Monday.
In 2016, Unesco added “beer culture in Belgium” to its list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity. The recognition was based not so much on the quality of the beer itself as on its place in Belgians’ daily and social lives, its role as a living heritage, and its diversity.
The Belgian Beer Culture Days will run from 4 to 13 September and aim to showcase that heritage.
The opening weekend will be the Belgian Beer Weekend, which will begin with its traditional celebration at St Michael and St Gudula Cathedral and an academic session at Brussels City Hall.
From Friday evening to Sunday, the Grand-Place will become a tasting venue featuring more than 500 different beers from 49 breweries.
The final weekend of the 10-day festival, on 12 and 13 September, will shift to Bruges for the Brugs Bierfestival.
Between those two weekends, and throughout the event, a Belgian Beer Culture Bar will be set up on Place de la Bourse in central Brussels. Around 40 breweries will take part, alongside a range of activities centred on brewing, tasting and related traditions.
Across the country, Belgian beer will also be highlighted throughout the week in participating cafés and supermarkets.
The Brewers said the Chevalerie du Fourquet des Brasseurs is co-organising the event.
The federation said it wants the celebrations to be festive, but also to send what it called a clear signal about the pressures facing the sector.
“These are not the easiest times for our brewers,” said Krishan Maudgal, director of the Belgian Brewers, citing rising production costs and falling exports.
He further accused some politicians of increasingly targeting the brewing sector, and said Belgium’s beer culture remained a source of national pride that should be protected and cherished.
