The Christmas countdown continues! As Brussels gears up for the holidays, the city's cultural agenda is jam-packed with activities and events for all ages.
Beyond the famous Christmas market in the city centre, there are concerts, cinema screenings, fashion shows and exhibitions. Find out all you need to know below!
Art, music and culture
Brussels Young Philharmonic, Flagey cultural centre, Sunday 7 December
Come and see young talent flourish this weekend, as Belgium's next generation of musicians experience life in a symphony orchestra. Experienced musicians will help young people aged 15 to 25 discover the joy of making music together and developing their talents in a unique way.
Credit: Brussels Young Philharmonic
The young musicians will perform Beethoven's 7th Symphony – considered one of the most electrifying symphonies ever written and full of rhythm, drive and tension. From the iconic second movement to the explosive finale, this concert is an absolute must-see.
Find more information here.
Belgian Cabareteke, Théâtre de Poche, until Saturday 20 December
Enjoy a celebration of all things quintessentially Belgian this month, with the 'Belgian Cabareteke'. Created by Claude Semal and multi-instrumentalist Eric Drabs, this music hall show combines songs, sketches and burlesque acts to bring every aspect of Belgian culture together.
Credit: Philippe Petitjean
From frites-mayo, beer and surrealism, to the Ommegang festival, Gilles de Binche, the awful weather – and plenty of wit, humour and self-mockery – this delightful little cabaret will remind you of why you fell in love with Belgium in the first place!
Find more information here.
Design Museum free weekend, Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 December
The first Sunday of the month always means a day of free museums in Brussels – but one of them is going the extra mile this weekend! To celebrate its tenth anniversary this year, the Design Museum is inviting the public to explore its collections and exhibitions for free over the entire weekend.
Credit: designmuseumbrussels
Take the opportunity to discover the museum's two major permanent collections: 'The Plastic Design Collection', showcasing plastic design from the Golden Sixties, and 'Belgi(um) Design', highlighting iconic moments and figures in Belgian design. There will also be guided tours around the 'Design and Comics: Living in a Box' exhibition on Sunday and a children's reading activity on 10 December.
Find more information here.
Brussels Fashion Days, Espace Vanderborght, 6 December
Brussels Fashion Days is returning to the heart of the city this weekend with an exceptional, immersive edition that is more vibrant than ever. For the first time, it is being held at Espace Vanderborght – just a stone's throw away from Grand Place.
Brussels Fashion Days. Credit: Chris Bulte
Following on from the School Fashion Show on 29 November, when eight Belgian fashion schools revealed the new generation of designers, the Mode-in.Brussels collective will present a unique show this Saturday, celebrating local creativity and Brussels' unique energy.
Find more information here.
Lights, camera, action!
'Palestinian Archives: Fragments of a Stolen Memory', Cinéma Nova, until 19 December
Cinéma Nova – one of Brussels' most enchanting independent cinemas – is offering a unique programme this month, focusing on Palestinian audiovisual archives, from the struggle to preserve them to their re-appropriation by contemporary Palestinian filmmakers. "Preserving these images, putting them into circulation, reusing them and reappropriating them is a way of continuing to build a collective memory," the event's organisers said.
Cinema Nova. Credit: Pablo Gulin Diaz Kopec (CC BY-SA 2.0)
The archives show how a new generation of filmmakers is combining fiction and documentary with artistic, political and humanist ambitions. A central figure in this movement, Michel Khleifi, a refugee in Belgium since 1970, will be present at Nova for the screening of his film 'Ma'loul Celebrates Its Destruction' alongside Israeli historian Ilan Pappé. Screenings on 6, 12 and 14 December will be subtitled and followed by discussions in English.
Find more information here.
Cinemamed, various locations, until Friday 5 December
Cinemamed is back in Brussels from Thursday, once again putting Mediterranean stories and issues in the spotlight. Each year, the festival screens around 60 new dramas and documentaries from countries around the Mediterranean Sea. Insightful meetings and debates are also organised after each screening.
Credit: Cinemamed 2025.
In the festival's last couple of days, don't miss the exhibition 'Après Beyrouth', which brings together three photographic perspectives on Lebanon, in the aftermath of the Beirut port explosion in 2020 and against a backdrop of political and economic crisis, and 'Calle Málaga' – a gem of a film and a feat of acting.
Find more information here.
Further afield
'Magritte. La ligne de vie', KMSKA in Antwerp, until 22 February 2026
Belgian Surrealist painter René Magritte gave a lecture on his vision of reality at the KMSKA in 1938. Entitled 'La ligne de vie' ('The Lifeline'), this lecture became the most important Magritte ever gave on his own work, and is the focus of KMSKA's new exhibition.
Credit: Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen
The exhibition invites visitors to learn about the ideas and paintings Magritte explored in his lecture, including early works such as 'Ceci n'est pas une pipe', his visual enigmas and puns, why he so often painted trees and windows, and what lies behind these motifs.
Find more information here.
