The Brussels Times Magazine selects the best current and upcoming events and exhibitions this autumn.
EVENTS
Various venues in Brussels
September 17 to October 2, 2025
Brussels Design Festival
The annual festival that brings together over 300 designers, makers and creatives in 100 venues across the capital. It includes exhibitions, installations, open studios, lectures, markets, tours and workshops across themes of technological innovation, sustainability, new aesthetics, and commerce. This year's event will also feature a special focus on Art Deco, aligning with Brussels' year-long celebration of the design movement’s centenary.
Around Place du Grand Sablon, 1000 Brussels
September 25-26, 2025
Brussels Art Square
Some 70 galleries will open their doors during Brussels Art Square (BAS), in the art district of the Sablon, where galleries are usually open by appointment. It's a chance to admire sculptures, paintings, jewellery and furniture spanning 10,000 years of history and artistic trends.
Various venues in Brussels
October 3-13, 2025
The Artonov festival sneaks contemporary dance, music, workshops and performance art into unlikely venues – from mansions to metro stations – like a cultural squat with better lighting. It’s the only time you’ll see avant-garde choreography unfolding beneath stained glass without anyone calling security.
Various venues in Brussels
October 11-12 and 18-19, 2025
A new annual festival that merges two previous biennales, on eclectic and neoclassical architecture, over two weekends across the Brussels region. Brought to you by the people behind the BANAD, the new event will showcase architectural treasures from the so-called “long 19th century” (1780–1920). Through guided visits, tours and lectures, ANTE aims to showcase the abundance of evolving styles, as well as the diversity of the architectural heritage.
Various venues in Brussels
October 18, 2025
Museum Night Fever
For one night only, museums across Brussels will stay open late for your edification, and many of them will be putting on special events. The event is put together by the organisation Brussels Museums, which aims to make museums more accessible to everyone and promote the city’s cultural scene.
CULTURE
Horta Museum, 27, Rue Américaine, 1060 Brussels
Until November 2, 2025
As part of the Art Deco Year 2025 celebrations, the Horta Museum casts a new light on this period through the lens of design motifs, looking at how patterns, colours, decorations, and ornaments evolved and transformed between 1910 and 1940.
Halles Saint-Géry, 1, Place Saint-Géry, 1000 Brussels
Until November 16, 2025
ART.DECO.MODE
Modern fashion designers show their contemporary vision of the codes of the Art Deco movement that were seen in drawings, photographs, movies and magazines.
PRESENCE OF THE PAST: A EUROPEAN ALBUM
House of European History, Park Leopold, Rue Belliard 135, 1000 Brussels
Until January 11, 2026
How do Europeans engage with the past in their everyday lives? This exhibition of photographs from across Europe looks at the ways history and heritage are integrated into our modern worlds.
CNN199: 35 YEARS OF ACTIVIST HIPHOP
Espace Vanderborght, Rue de l'Ecuyer 50, 1000 Brussels
October 16 to November 11, 2025
A retrospective look at Brussels graffiti collective CNN199 from its subversive origins, showcasing its diverse forms and techniques: monumental frescoes, works on canvas, digital installations - with original works created especially for Espace Vanderborght.
ECHOES OF DREAMS. SYMBOLISM IN BRUSSELS
Maison Hannon, Ave de la Jonction 1, 1060 Saint-Gilles
Until April 19, 2026
Echoes of Dreams
The Maison Hannon, itself an Art Nouveau masterpiece, is hosting this exhibition on Belgian and French Symbolism at the turn of the 20th century. Includes works by Victor Rousseau, Fernand Khnopff, Charles van der Stappen, George Minne and Jef Lambeaux.
PARIS, BRUSSELS AND BACK. THE ART DÉCO PERIOD OF THE BAUCHER-FERON COUPLE
Design Museum Brussels, Place de Belgique, 1020 Brussels
Until November 2, 2025
This joint exhibition of Art Deco couple Sylvie Feron and René Baucher, shows how her delicate, dreamlike abstractions paired with his bold, tactile forms in two distinct languages of texture and light.
Fashion & Lace Museum, Rue de la Violette 12, 1000 Brussels
Until January 11, 2026
40+ Years of Stijl
Conceived in the Dansaert district of Brussels in the 1980s, a handful of Belgian designers – led by Sonja Noël with her Stijl boutique – began opening stores that set a new tone for fashion wear. This exhibition chronicles their influence through 68 silhouettes created by 46 designers.
DESIGN AND COMICS: LIVING IN A BOX
Design Museum Brussels, Place de la Belgique 1, 1020 Brussels
October 18 to March 1, 2026
A look at design and its relationship to the world of comics. From the emergence of comic strips in the early 20th century, to the likes of Hergé to superheroes, graphic novels and manga, they reflected the design of the period, and influenced it too.
GERMAN TUNERS FROM THE ’80S AND THE ’90S
Autoworld, Parc du Cinquantenaire 11, 1000 Brussels
Until December 14, 2025
German Tuners
Slick, overpowered and unapologetically brash, German tuner cars of the ’80s and ’90s – think AMG Hammers, Brabus bruisers and Alpina oddities – took respectable saloons and warped them into Autobahn monsters, equal parts menace, badge-snobbery and glorious excess.
ART EXHIBITIONS
Museum PARCUM, Park Abbey, Abdij van Park 7, 3001 Leuven
Until November 9, 2025
There is, according to the curators of this exhibition, an “age-old human longing for transcendence through the lens of both medieval mysticism and contemporary art.” It features works by Marina Abramović, Jeremy Shaw, Laure Prouvost and others “to reflect on how mystical and modern paths toward ecstasy may still echo one another.”
Tour & Taxis, Shed 4b, Avenue du Port 86C, 1000 Brussels
Until November 11, 2025
Amazonia
French-Brazilian Sebastião Salgado is arguably the world’s most celebrated nature photographer, whose black-and-white images of animals in barren landscapes suggest a prehistoric era. This exhibition features over 200 large-format photographs revealing the richness of the Amazon rainforest and the people who live there. It is accompanied by a soundtrack that was specially created by Jean-Michel Jarre.
Square Armand Steurs, 1210 Brussels
Until September 29, 2025
TheArtSquare returns for its 33rd edition, filling the Art Deco square Armand Steurs with monumental sculptures by 30 Belgian and international artists, reshaping Brussels’ greenery into a free, open-air gallery.
La Maison des Arts, Chaussée de Haecht 147, 1030 Schaerbeek
September 20 to November 23
A Table
Eight contemporary artists are exhibiting under the theme "À table!" as they explore their favourite dishes, what they hate, their morning ritual, their childhood favourites and their guilty pleasures.
THe “S” GRAND ATELIER. NOVÊ SALM
BPS22, Boulevard Solvay 22, 6000 Charleroi
September 17 to January 4, 2026
The "S" Grand Atelier, a contemporary art centre in Vielsalm in the Ardennes, has fostered scores of young talents over the past three decades. This showcase includes graphic works, installations, sound pieces, videos, 3D animations, digital creations and musical performances.
GRACE SCHWINDT: A HISTORY OF TOUCH
M Leuven, Leopold Vanderkelenstraat 28, 3000 Leuven
Until November 16, 2025
Grace Schwindt’s exhibition turns everyday gestures into surreal theatre, reminding you that even making tea can feel like avant-garde performance if you’re sufficiently unsettled.
JOHN BALDESSARI: PARABLES, FABLES, AND OTHER TALL TALES
Bozar, Rue Ravenstein 23, 1000 Brussels
Until February 1, 2026
John Baledessari
The first major European exhibition of John Baldessari since his passing in 2020, it will bring together more than 60 works from public and private collections, alongside an extensive programme of talks, performances and screenings that highlight his lasting influence on contemporary visual culture.
DAVID HOCKNEY. THE SONG OF THE EARTH
CAP/Beaux-Arts Mons Rue Neuve 8, 7000 Mons
October 4 to January 25, 2026
This exhibition explores the connection between humanity and nature through David Hockney's work, alongside pieces by the likes of Van Gogh and Munch. It features a variety of Hockney’s art, from large-scale paintings to digital works and installations, showcasing landscapes and portraits from his time in California, Normandy, and Yorkshire.
WHAT’S THE WORD? JOHANNESBURG!
Fondation A, Avenue van Volxem 304, 1190 Brussels
Until December 21, 2025
Johannesburg may be a vibrant, resilient city but it is also one of the most unequal in the world, mainly due to the legacy of apartheid. This exhibition shows it through the eyes of nine young South African photographers who provide a layered narrative that both confronts and redefines Johannesburg’s image.
GEORGE MINNE: THE PRODIGAL SON
Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Museumlaan 14, 9831 Deurle
September 21 to December 21, 2025
Georges Minne
The quirky Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens is hosting an exhibition featuring work by Belgian sculptor George Minne alongside major loans, including rarely exhibited sculptures and drawings that focus on themes such as mourning, corporeality, and emotional connection.
MICHEL COUTURIER: LA FRICHE DE LA GALAXIE
Centrale for Contemporary Art, Place Sainte-Catherine 45, 1000 Brussels
October 10 to February 22, 2026
This will be the first major monographic exhibition in Brussels of the work of artist Michel Couturier, who died last year. Initiated during his lifetime, it focuses on the last ten years of his work, and includes his photography, video work and drawings.
ROBERT DOISNEAU. INSTANTS DONNEES
La Boverie, Parc de la Boverie, 4020 Liège
October 31 to April 19, 2026
Photograph by Robert Doisneau
The most comprehensive exhibition ever devoted to Robert Doisneau will open at La Boverie in Liège, celebrating one of the 20th century’s greatest photographers. The retrospective will bring together nearly 400 images, from 1934 to 1992, showcasing the richness, poetry and sensitivity of Doisneau’s gaze – including Le Baiser de l'Hôtel de Ville, perhaps the most romantic photo ever taken.
SCIENCE
Musée L, Place des Sciences 3, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve
Until February 22, 2026
The Musée L is as eclectic a museum as you will find. It showcases items from the archives of the University of Leuven, now UCLouvain in Louvain-la-Neuve, from ancient manuscripts to stuffed animals. This is a special exhibition celebrating 600 years since the university’s founding.
Plein Publiek BXL, Mont des Arts 5, 1000 Brussels
Until November 2, 2025
Artcade
An immersive exhibition on the evolution of digital technology, the impact of gaming and the possibilities of artificial intelligence. The pixelated hybrid universe lets visitors touch and play, interact with installations and unlock hidden layers through the dedicated app.
Until January 2, 2026
Atomium, Place de l'Atomium 1, 1020 Brussels
The artist collective Visual System is currently occupying the exhibition spaces in the Atomium with its digital and symphonic work that combine to create a unique sensory experience. With original music by Thomas Vaquié, “it creates hypnotic immersive environments, with light and sound, that explore the relationship between space and time, nature and science, waking dreams and reality.”
Gare Maritime, Avenue du Port 86c, 1000 Brussels
Until December 30, 2025
A virtual zoo conceived by animal rights group GAIA that aims to immerse visitors amongst creatures in their natural habitat, using AR and VR tech to show what their life is like in the wild.
CONVENTIONS & FESTIVALS
Gare Maritime, Avenue du Port 86c, 1000 Brussels
September 26-28, 2025
Experience BD Gare Maritime - Tour & Taxis. Credit: visit.brussels - Jean-Paul Remy - 2020
Exhibitions, signing sessions, talks and hot air balloons will all be at the festival, which this year will put a special spotlight on Flemish comic strips, while a new space will be dedicated to digital techniques and drawing.
Gare Maritime, Tour & Taxis
Tour & Taxis, Rue Picard 11, 1000 Brussels
September 28-29, 2025
Belgium excels in brewing, and this craft beer festival is a celebration of the country’s creations from independent breweries. A chance to sample the lesser-known krieks, gueuzes, witbiers, bruins, saisons, dubbels, tripels and others.
Cinemas in Namur
October 3-10, 2025
The Festival International du Film Francophone (FIFF) in Namur is, of course, dedicated to showcasing French-language cinema, including features, shorts, animations and documentaries. Beyond screenings, FIFF hosts professional workshops, educational programmes for young audiences, and cultural events.
Five different cinemas in Ghent
October 9-20, 2025
Film Fest Gent
Belgium’s biggest film festival will kick off the 52nd edition with Julian, the feature debut by Belgian director Cato Kusters (see separate article on the movie). For many, the festival’s highlight is the World Soundtrack Awards, which this year celebrates its 25th anniversary with two guests of honour: Debbie Wiseman (Tom & Viv, Wilde, Wolf Hall) and A. R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours), whose music will be performed by the Brussels Philharmonic.
Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles, Boulevard Émile Jacqmain 111-115, 1000 Brussels
October 9-18, 2025
A broad festival of ideas that bills itself as a “political and artistic, intercultural and creative, festive and subversive.” It will “mobilise all forms of expression in order to offer an overview of the state of rights and freedoms around the world, to point out lurking dangers, to encourage resistance and to promote solidarity.”
October 14-25, 2025
Cinquantenaire Park.1000 Brussels
Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest is indelibly linked to Munich, but Brussels holds its own version, in a large tent in the Cinquantenaire Park, decorated in Bavarian style, offering original Munich beers, Bavarian specialities like Bretzels (Brezn), white sausages (Weißwurst), and roasted pork knuckles (Schweinshaxn), along with traditional brass band music.
Kortrijk
October 16 to November 2, 2025
Wonder promotes itself as a platform and connector for design, innovation, technology and art. Set up by Designregio Kortrijk, it includes exhibits, installations and events “that show how creativity offers answers to tomorrow's challenges.” Based around the Kortijk’s Budafabriek, its public and private partners host exhibitions, workshops, lectures and events.
Various venues in Namur
October 23-26, 2025
An annual event in Namur, KIKK celebrates digital and creative cultures by exploring the intersections of art, science, and technology. The festival includes conferences, art installations and trails throughout the city, a market for innovative products and workshops.
Brussels Expo, Place de Belgique 1, 1020 Brussels
October 18-19, 2025
The first of three comic fests in quick succession this autumn (see below) Heroes Comic Con is – like the others – a celebration of comics, manga, cosplay, gaming, films, series, sci-fi and fantasy, bringing thousands of fans together every year, many of whom will dress up as their favourite characters. Guests this year include four Beverly Hills 90210 stars. It is held alongside Made in Asia.
Gare Maritime, Avenue du Port 86c, 1000 Brussels
October 25-26, 2025
See above for more on what to expect, but this one is at Tour & Taxi’s Gare Maritime. Special guests this year include C-3PO actor Anthony Daniels, Back to the Future’s Christopher Lloyd and Tom Wilson, and Stranger Things baddie Jamie Campbell Bower.
Flanders Expo, Maaltekouter 1, 9051 Ghent
November 1-2, 2025
The biggest of these geek gatherings takes up the vast Flanders Expo exhibition centre and delivers big-name stars as well as workshops, geek markets, Lego displays and gaming. Confirmed guests include Simon Pegg (Mission Impossible, Shaun of the Dead, Star Trek), Andrew Scott (Ripley, Moriarty in Sherlock, Hot Priest in Fleabag), as well as Cobra Kai’s Tanner Buchanan and Mary Mouser.
CONCERTS
Viage, Blvd Anspach 30, 1000 Brussels
September 20, 2025
Fran Lebowitz – author, journalist, social observer and uncrowned empress of sarcasm – takes the stage to prove that misanthropy, when delivered with perfect timing and a cigarette-dry wit, is still the best kind of stand-up comedy.
La Monnaie/De Munt, Place de la Monnaie, 1000 Brussels
September 21 to October 10, 2025
Falstaff
Verdi’s Falstaff fizzes with wit, mischief and melody, as the ageing rogue plots seductions, suffers humiliations, and still manages to charm. A comic masterpiece, sparkling with orchestral brilliance and Shakespearean swagger.
Queen Elizabeth Hall, Koningin Astridplein 26, Antwerp
September 22, 2025
Award-winning Australian comedian, actor and writer Jim Jefferies brings his new Son of a Carpenter tour to Antwerp, offering wry and brutally honest takes on everything from politics to parenthood,
Ancienne Belgique, Blvd Anspach 110, 1000 Brussels
September 29, 2025
Sophie Ellis-Bextor brings her glitterball anthems to the stage: expect disco, eyeliner sharp enough to cut glass, and the odd reminder that Murder on the Dancefloor is still very much alive.
Ancienne Belgique, Blvd Anspach 110, 1000 Brussels
September 30, 2025
The Darkness return in sequined glory, wielding riffs, winks and falsetto so high it threatens glassware – reminding us that glam rock never really died, it just got louder.
Queen Elizabeth Hall, Koningin Astridplein 26, Antwerp
October 12, 2025
Suzanne Vega takes the stage with understated grace, weaving literate, intimate songs that turn whispered observations into quiet anthems. No pyrotechnics here – just wit, clarity, and melodies that sneak into your bloodstream long after the last chord fades.
Bozar, Rue Ravenstein 23, 1000 Brussels
October 26-28, 2025
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan takes the stage once more: the voice gravelly, the phrasing unpredictable, the setlist mysterious. Yet fans lean forward, straining for fragments of poetry, convinced each murmur hides some revelation worth the price of eternal ambiguity.
Under The Big Top, Brussels Expo, Place de Belgique 1, 1020 Brussels
Until November 9, 2025
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil’s Alegría returns with gravity-defying acrobatics, surreal costumes and a storyline about power shifts – because nothing says political commentary quite like clowns in sequins flipping 30 feet through the air.
AFAS Dome (formerly Sportpaleis), Schijnpoortweg 119, 2170 Antwerp
November 11, 2025
Lady Gaga descends in full spectacle: outrageous costumes, powerhouse vocals, and choreographed chaos that feels both otherworldly and oddly intimate – because when subtlety calls, Gaga simply lets it go to voicemail, then answers with fireworks and sequins.
ING Arena, Ave de Miramar, 1020 Brussels
October 25, 2025
Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance shows have proved that stomping in perfect unison can fill arenas, sell millions, and make tights a global power statement. Toe-tapping hubris, Irish-style. Also performing in Ghent, Hasselt, Wex, Liege, Charleroi and Antwerp in October
Forest National, Avenue Victor Rousseau 208, 1190 Forest
November 17, 2025
Lorde
Lorde returns to the stage with moody yet catchy pop hymns for the terminally self-aware: adolescence may end, but melodrama is forever.
SPORT
Across Brussels
September 21, 2025
Car-free Sunday. Credit: Brussels Mobility
Car Free Sunday transforms Brussels into a pedestrian’s playground: bikes, skates and wandering feet reclaim the boulevards while engines fall silent. For once, the city’s soundtrack is laughter, chatter and the faint whir of bicycle gears in full chorus.
Spa-Francorchamps Circuit, Rte du Circuit 55, 4970 Stavelot
September 24-27, 2025
Spa Six Hours roars into life at Belgium’s legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit, where vintage racing machines battle endurance, weather and nostalgia in a variety of races over four days. Expect roaring engines, petrol-scented romance, and the kind of drama only classic cars at full tilt can deliver.
Starting and ending in the city centre
November 2, 2025
Brussels Marathon
Winding through grand boulevards and cobbled streets, the Brussels Marathon offers runners both scenic beauty and calf-testing climbs – because nothing says endurance like mixing urban charm with the unforgiving Ave de Tervuren.
Kuipke velodrome, Familie van Rysselberghedreef 2, 9000 Gent
November 18-23, 2025
Six Days of Ghent hurtles into action at ’t Kuipke velodrome, where cyclists whirl at dizzying speeds under disco lights. Equal parts sporting endurance and beer-soaked party, it’s a unique blend of pedals, spectacle and unapologetic late-night revelry.
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