Couleur Café festival in Brussels will make a sizzling return this weekend as Belgium is engulfed by a heatwave, requiring extra vigilance in what will feel like a carnival atmosphere.
Around 75,000 festival-goers will spend three days under the baking sun for the 36th edition of the boutique festival. Luckily, they will be shaded by the numerous trees which populate the festival site in Parc Osseghem, just a stone’s throw from the Atomium.
With the intense heat, the festival has strengthened its emergency response and heat plans, with the Belgian health authorities calling for people attending events this weekend to take extra care in the heat, while also providing recommendations.
As it does every year, Brussels public transport operator STIB/MVIB has announced special night shuttles to get festivalgoers back to Brussels when the music ends. Here’s everything you need to know.
Music
This year the festival’s programme will, as always, celebrate the best music from around the world – from Kinshasa to London, Lagos to Paris or Santo Domingo to Los Angeles.
The festival line-up curators select the best in R&B, hip-hop, world, soul, Afrobeats, reggae, dub, dancehall, Latin, salsa, jazz and funk – often finding the newest up and coming acts alongside international stars.
Among the big names coming to Brussels this year, Friday will see performances by Nigerian afrobeats stars Rema, London jazz outfit Ezra Collective, Portugese-Angolan firebrand Pongo and French R’n’B rapper and singer KeBlack.
Musicians perform on the first day of the festival. Credit: Belga / Hatim Kaghat
Saturday is set to become a fiestón (huge party) with an array of Latin American acts. Notably, Dominican dembo (a higher tempo reggaeton) diva Tokischa and Venezuelan Latin pop star Danny Ocean will get the Red Stage bouncing.
Anderson Paak will also get behind the decks as his alter ego, DJ Pee. Wee, with Martinique’s Kalash also set to be a celebration of French-speaking Caribbean sounds. UK singers Greentea Peng and Obongjayar are bound to fit perfectly with Saturday's crowd with their feel-good sounds.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, UK rapper and grime pioneer Skepta will close off the festival on the main stage, a testament to the London artist’s rise in the last two decades. US rapper Freddie Gibbs is also hotly tipped to woo a laidback Green Stage, the bucolic amphitheatre which has become an iconic Couleur Café stage since it moved to this site.
Earlier in the day, US soul band Three Sacred Souls and Brussels singer and rapper Blu Samu will no doubt revitalise depleted crowds needing a boost after three intense days of music and sun.
People attend the first day of the Couleur Cafe music festival in Brussels, Friday 23 June 2023. The 32nd edition of the festival is taking place from June 23th to June 25th. Credit : Belga/Hatim Kaghat
Also worth mentioning is the Black Stage, the festival's de facto dance tent, which will be hosting DJs playing all sorts of shades of electronica, particularly lesser-known territories such as baile funk, jungle or dubstep.
Away from music, dotted around the site are smaller pop-up stages, a BMX freestyle demonstration, vintage fairground rides, kids' attractions and for those needing nourishment, a large food truck street serving on-the-go cuisine from all over the world.
Heatwave measures
What has the festival said about special measures? This week, they announced that additional water stations (where people can fill their water bottles for free) have been built across the site. Bottled water will also be available from the bar for 1 drink ticket.
Illustration picture shows a staff member holding a water play pistol, at the first day of the Couleur Cafe music festival in Brussels, Friday 28 June 2019. The 45th edition of the festival is taking place from 27 to 30 June. Credit: Belga / Laurie Dieffembacq
On top of added hydration points, misters and sprinklers will be on site for people to cool off. This includes a mobile misting system provided by the Couleur Café CARE team.
The festival organisation has asked people who attend the festival in Brussels on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to be extra vigilant and drink a lot of water. Festival goers are also encouraged to seek frequent cooling and stay alert for signs of dehydration or overheating.
CouleurCafé also asks festivalgoers to bring a drinking bottle and sunscreen, and to use the extra shade zones on the festival site.
The festival is blessed to have a huge part of the site inside a wooded area of the bucolic Parc Osseghem. This will provide festivalgoers with shade during the hottest hours, with many non-music attractions also found here.
The Belgian Red Cross will have an increased presence on the festival site due to the heat, it announced on Wednesday.
More than 90 first responders will be present every day of the Couleur Café festival. A 150 m2 medical station will also be set up alongside a heatstroke treatment unit.
For weekend campers, there will be plenty of refreshments at the campground, courtesy of the fire department. On Thursday, the campsite opened early at 08:30 rather than 10:00 to allow campers to settle in before the heat.
How to get home
As it does every year, Brussels public transport operator STIB has announced six special night time shuttles, with three buses and three trams, going into the centre and all corners of Brussels after the festival.
Free of charge, the shuttles will run from Friday to Sunday, between midnight and 3 am, with a frequency of one shuttle every 15 to 20 minutes. Click here for the full details of the six shuttle services.
Credit: STIB
For those wanting to go home early, STIB’s regular network will be running its regular schedule, with the last Metro going back into Brussels between midnight and half past.
Brussels Metro line 6’s Heysel station serves the festival site, as do trams 7 and 62 (also stopping at Heysel). Tram 9 also serves the Roi Baudouin station, which is just a few extra minutes on foot.
For cyclists, there is also a large, free and secure bicycle carpark at Avenue du Gros Tilleul 3, 1020 Brussels. For all practical information, including wristband exchange, click here.
Stay safe, look after each other and enjoy the festival!
