Temperatures will soar above 20°C in Belgium this weekend, meaning that most people will be outside enjoying the warmth, and maybe grabbing a drink on a terrace. However, Brussels' cultural agenda is once again packed this weekend, so be sure to make time for one of these unmissable events.
Arts, music and culture
Dream City, KANAL-Centre Pompidou, until 14 April
This weekend, the first Brussels edition of the Tunisian Dream City festival, founded by dancers Selma and Sofiane Ouissi, is coming to the Belgian capital for ten days. Since its creation in 2007, it has become an artistic hub between the Arab world, Africa and Europe.
Credit: Magdalena Bichler - Theaterformen festival
Through its rich programme of dance, talks, music and films, the festival addresses issues such as migration, emancipation, human rights and climate. We recommend 'Losing it', a dance performance about growing up in war zones, and 'H2HEBRON', about a microcosm in the occupied West Bank that is both violent and absurd.
Find more information here.
Nick Cave art, Xavier Hufkens gallery on Rue Saint-Georges, until 11 May
The first major body of visual work by Australian rock star Nick Cave is being showcased in Brussels from this weekend. His series of works titled 'The Devil - A Life' includes 17 glazed ceramic figurines, which were created between 2020 and 2022 in the style of Victorian Staffordshire flatback figurines.
Cave's work titled 'The Devil Bleeds to Death'. Credit: Xavier Hufkens gallery
Cave depicts this creature, often regarded as the fearsome Antichrist, as an Everyman who experiences life in a very human way. The works aim to showcase that people are conflicted and that there is good and bad in everyone.
Find more information here.
Festival fever
BRDCST Festival, Ancienne Belgique, until 8 April
Lovers of our monthly Gig Guide will already be aware of this weekend's BRDCST Festival at the iconic Brussels music venue AB, where the audience has learned to expect the unexpected.
BRDCST festival banner for Day 3. Credit: AB
On the agenda for its seventh edition is multi-award-winning composer Mica Levi, whose remixes bring together punk and refined film soundtracks with classical music, Scottish artist Brìghde Chaimbeul, who will be bringing the first bagpipes to BRDCST, and Australia's The Necks, who have been around for over 35 years and are now enjoying their breakthrough.
Find more information here.
Belgian Jazz Festival, Théâtre du Vaudeville, Friday 5 and Saturday 6 April
The Belgian Jazz Festival is the occasion for lovers of the genre to listen to the very best on the Belgian scene, with concerts taking place in the historic Théâtre du Vaudeville in the Royal Gallery of Saint Hubert.
Lorenzo Di Maio. Credit: Jazz in Belgium/ Elia Fragione
Belgian pianist Nathalie Loriers' Trio, with Nic Thys on bass and Fabrice Alleman will kick off the two-day event on Friday, followed by pianist Igor Gehenot's Quintet, including Umberto Odone on drums, bassist Sal La Rocca, Steven Delannoye on tenor sax and trumpist Greg Houben.
Saturday evening will begin with saxophonist Bart Defoort and Brussels-based Brazilian guitarist Victor Da Costa, followed by Lorenzo Di Maio's 'Ruby'. Closing the event is cavaquinho (small Portuguese guitar) player Maxime Blésin.
Find more information here.
D Festival, Theatre Marni and Senghor, until 13 April
The latest edition of the iconic Brussels Dance Festival has much in store, with six choreographers bringing five creations that reflect a collective human experience of movement.
Credit: Theatre Marni
This weekend, Hippolyte Bohouo's creation is on the agenda, depicting the intimate revolt of the body caught between self-giving and self-loss. Two performers will take to the stage to highlight the need for an Attouh – a Côte d'Ivoire concept that describes a tender, warm and jovial embrace.
Find more information here.
Out and about
Brussels French-language Book Festival, Tour & Taxis, until Sunday 7 April
Those who have mastered reading in French or are looking to improve their language skills should make their way to the stunning Gare Maritime on the Tour & Taxis site. The spotlight this year will be on the European Union and its literature, with Belgium holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the European elections just weeks away.
Credit: Tour & Taxis
Highlights include a meeting between Ukrainian author Andreï Kourkov and Austrian writer Robert Menasse on the enlargement of the Union, a discussion between three leading female authors in European literature – Germany's Helene Bukowski, Poland's Magdalena Parys and Czechia's Kateřina Tučková – and a meeting with comic artist Mathieu Sapin.
Find more information here.
