Brussels-Ixelles police say around 100,000 people have now used the new enlarged pedestrian walkway in the town centre’s boulevards. The opening festivities ended at 6pm on Sunday. The police’s first estimation at the beginning of the afternoon was 25,000 people. When the opening festivities started at 12pm, Lièdo, an 8 metre wicker giant made by “L’Homme debout”, walked from the Place De Brouckère to the walkway’s current limit in rue du Lombard. He returned to the Place de la Bourse at 13.30, and sat down.
The atmosphere was very festive. DJ Jérôme Porsperger mixed classical music on the Place De Brouckère, while brass bands played in the boulevards in the town centre. On the walkway between Place de la Brouckère and Place de la Bourse, there was an interactive fresco and workshops where you could make wooden toys or kites. You could also rent sports equipment and roller skates.
The Pentagon Platform organised a protest on the corner of rue de Flandre and rue Léon Lepage, to protest against the position of the walkway and the new traffic plan. Around a hundred people attended.
(Source: Belga)
