Brussels’ 142nd Foire du Midi has crossed a milestone this year, welcoming over a million attendees.
A total of 972,355 Brussels residents attended the largest fair in the country, while a further 109,972 visitors arrived from across the country.
A spike in attendance occurred on 20 and 21 July, with over 45,000 visitors recorded. During evening hours, between 8-10 pm , the funfair remained the most popular with a large number of attendees.
This year’s success marks an improvement over previous editions, with the funfair attracting only 500,496 and 663,139 attendees in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
“The provisional results for the 2023 edition is nearing the 1,122,974 visitors of 2019,” Fabian Maingain, Alderman for Economic Affairs in Brussels stated.
“For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve crossed the one million visitor mark. Many Belgians travelled to the Foire du Midi, in part due to favourable weather conditions,” he added.
The councilman further stated that local environmental organisations believe a better balance has been struck between the experience offered at the fair and adherence to noise standards. “No noise regulation infringements were detected, although some attractions posed minor issues. In terms of security, the situation has also improved,” Maingain added.
