In classic Brussels fashion, the sun-filled days will retire just as Saturday arrives – but fear not, there is still plenty to do!
Whether you want to spend the weekend inside or out, The Brussels Times gives you some tips. From 1 May celebrations to comic festivals, English-language theatre and more – here is what’s on in Brussels this weekend.
Out and about
Labour Day, Mont des Arts, Friday 1 May
While the sun is still around, a festive takeover of Mont des Arts will take place on Friday on the occasion of the International Day of Struggle for Workers' Rights. For one day, the iconic hill is turned into a village with free concerts, DJ sets, food trucks, bars, a children's village, and stalls from organisations and political parties from all over the world.
Labour Day celebrations at Mont Des Arts in 2022. Credit: The Brussels Times / Ugo Realfonzo
Organised by Belgian trade union FGTB, the annual event brings together nearly 15,000 people and more than 50 associations each year for a day of celebration and solidarity. Organisers are calling for people to join in a "gloomy social and political context", to restore energy to activists, sympathisers and all those who defend social justice.
Find more information here.
Art Nouveau walking tour, Saint-Gilles, Saturday 2 May
A two-hour walking tour organised by urban activists ARAU will guide people around the Art Nouveau heritage of Saint-Gilles, which is plentiful. A predominantly working-class neighbourhood, the municipality also hosted affluent families wanting more space at the end of the 19th century – coinciding with the Art Nouveau movement.
Maison De Beck, Av Paul Dejaer 9, St-Gilles, Bruxelles. Credit: Gustave Strauven
On the walking tour (in French), you will see the stunning facades decorated with wrought-ironwork, stained-glass windows, and ornamental woodwork, boosting both the attractiveness of the houses and the social standing of the owners. Iconic architects include Ernest Blérot, Paul Hamesse, Armand Van Waesberghe and Paul Hankar.
Find more information here.
Play Label Open Air, Place Poelaert, Saturday 2 May
Open-air season is back in Brussels. Numerous electronic music parties are being organised in emblematic squares and locations throughout the warmer months. Local party organising titans Play Label are kicking their summer off with a 10-hour party under the Palais de Justice this Saturday.
Credit: Play Label
With a backdrop over Brussels, the house music crew have invited some of the best DJs in the local scene, who will bring joy, dancing and sunshine to the city on Saturday. Be warned, tickets are going fast!
Find more information here.
Art, music and culture
Comic Con, Tour & Taxis, 2 and 3 May
Lovers of comic books can rejoice with the return of Comic Con in Brussels this weekend. Uniting the worlds of comics, cosplay, gaming, films, manga, collectables, anime, TV series, gadgets and lots more, Comic Con is an unmissable event at the Tour & Taxis site near the Brussels North train station.
Credit: Comic Con Brussels
Every year has international guests, with none other than Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul, Supernatural's Misha Collins, The Flash's Grant Gustin and How I Met Your Mother's Jennifer Morrison featuring this year – keep an eye out as they may be wandering around Brussels these days!
Find more information here.
Picture Perfect photography exhibition, Bozar, until August
A new photography exhibition at the iconic Bozar explores physical beauty in a second thematic exhibition, which focuses on what motivates us as humans. From the 1960s to today, the images on display will unwrap the pressures and excesses of what it means to be beautiful today.
Pipilotti Rist, Be Nice To Me (Flatten 04), 2000. Credit: Pipilotti Rist, 2025, SABAM. Courtesy the artist, Hauser & Wirth and Luhring August
The exhibition will show how artists have followed, questioned, and challenged ideals of beauty. From Nigeria to Poland, some of the featured artists include Pipilotti Rist, Okhai Ojeikere, Rineke Dijkstra and François Bellabas, among many others.
Find more information here.
Glensheen musical (English-language), Claude Volter theatre, 2, 3 and 5 May 2026
A new Brussels-based musical troupe, Smoosicals, brings Glensheen, a True Crime/Whodunnit musical, based on the murders of Minnesota heiress Elizabeth Congdon and her night nurse, Velma Pietila.
Glensheen
Chan Poling, the composer of Glensheen, has come from Minnesota for the show.
Find more information here.
Belgium Cello Society concert, Théâtre Mercelis, Saturday 2 May
The Belgium Cello Society, led by artistic director Han Bin Yoon, is organising another stellar concert this weekend. Queen Elizabeth International Competition prize winner Ivan Karizna will be taking to the stage with four remarkable works: Debussy's Cello Sonata, followed by Britten's Cello Sonata, Guillaume Connesson's Les Chants de l'Agartha, and Rachmaninov's emotionally charged Cello Sonata, Op. 19.
Credit: Belgium Cello Society
Want to be in with a chance of bagging a free ticket for you and a guest to the first concert of the season on 5 September? We have two pairs to give away. Email: i.vivian@brusselstimes.com with your full name – first come, first served!
Find more information here.
