Tomorrow is Belgian National Day!
21 July is the National Day in Belgium. It is one of the country's ten public holidays and marks the anniversary of the investiture of Leopold I as the first Belgian King in 1831. To celebrate this day, we will focus today on Belgian festivals that you can attend right now or very soon.
TAZ#2023
26 Jul - 05 Aug 2023 | Ostend, Belgium
TAZ is a performing arts festival with a broad spectrum of performances, disciplines aiming at a diverse audience where public and artists meet up and enjoy the pleasant atmosphere. It is a city festival making use of unique locations in and around Ostend, in the harbour and with a lively meeting point in the centre of Ostend. Finally, it is a summer festival: culture and holiday all in one.
What are the TAZ-INGREDIENTS ?
• Theatre festival: TAZ not only functions as a platform for young theatre makers, it also presents a thrilling theatre programme.
• Music festival: TAZ not only functions as a platform for young music makers, it also presents a wide range of concerts.
• Children’s festival: an out- and indoor programme for children. With performances, installations and games.
• Literature festival: with several formats.
Check out their programme 2023 here.
Picture: TAZ Facebook
Utopies
30 - 13 Oct 2023 | Belgium
Les Festivals de Wallonie is an association of 7 festivals in Wallonia and Brussels : Festival Musiq3 Bruxelles, Festival Musical de Namur, Royal Juillet Musical de Saint-Hubert, Festival de Stavelot, Les Nuits de Septembre, Festival Musiq3 Brabant wallon, Festival Musical du Hainaut
This year their events will focus on the theme of Utopia.
Found somewhere between the dream of a lost paradise and the fantasy of the ideal city, utopia hasn’t ceased, since Thomas More, to preoccupy artists and intellectuals alike, and to stimulate their creativity.
A favourite medium to express utopias, and their corollary, opposite, in the 20th century, the dystopias (from Aldous Huxley to Georges Orwell), literature flourishes with such realizations. Since its main topic is ideal cities, utopia has also been challenging architects for centuries. Such illustrations appear in pictorial art as well. Nonetheless, it’s intriguing to notice that music is the only art form mentioned by name in Thomas More’s founding work (Utopia). Could music, which is a ‘no place’ by definition, be the absolute utopian model?
Discover more about their concept and programme on their website here.
Pictures: VISITWallonia.be
Festivalito INTO this WOOD
04 - 06 Aug 2023 | Bièvre, Belgium
The festivalito INTO this WOOD is decentralised in the middle of the forest in the Namur Ardennes, completely disconnected. The valley resounds through concerts of all kinds of music, musical exchanges and sessions, a dance floor for Argentinean Tango and family activities with storytellers, tree climbing, walks and circus artists.
The immersion in nature reinforces the desire for quality, authenticity and a more conscious life. This glade in the forest is literally a little paradise at the end of the world. This location constitutes an important signal and an incentive to operate in a sustainable manner, with a focus on :
- Slow tourism: the festivalito is organising a network of routes to ensure that arriving in the valley is fun (cycling, walking and horse-drawn carriage routes), while taking ecological concerns into account. In partnership with the Tourist Office, paths from the Graide station were made available.
- Local products: the festivalito is committed to using local resources, promoting short, organic and seasonal circuits with local producers from the Ardenne Méridionale region, in collaboration with the GACs of Gedinne and Porcheresse. It's an indirect way of contributing to the discovery of the Southern Ardennes and one of the Most Beautiful Villages in Wallonia, and of highlighting the riches of the Semois Valley region.
You can find the programme following this link make a reservation here.
Picture: FestivalFinder.eu
Laus Polyphoniae 2023
18 Aug 2023 - 27 Aug 2023 | Antwerp, Belgium
The festival entitled ‘Antwerp. Townscape – Soundscape’ promises to be a lively soundtrack that recreates the music of Antwerp’s glory days. In the late 15th and especially the 16th century, Antwerp experienced unprecedented economic and cultural growth. The city on the Schelde became an international metropolis. Goods from all over the world were traded there by merchant families who amassed immense fortunes. People also played music all over this bustling city, in places ranging from the biggest churches to private homes.
Antwerp was a focal point of the art of book printing. Printers such as Phalesius and Plantijn were renowned for the high quality of their musical publications. Thanks to surviving prints, we can still perform this historical music today. Several of the concerts at ‘Antwerp. Townscape – Soundscape’ are devoted to music prints from the city. We will explore the scores with Huelgas Ensemble, Collegium Vocale Gent, the Portuguese ensemble Cupertinos and the French soprano Perrine Devillers. Utopia, from Belgium, devotes its attention to motet images: unique prints of magnificent engravings that also include music. Music commissioned from young composers provides contemporary counterparts for the historical motets.
Discover more about their programme on their main website here.
Picture: Laus Polyphoniae facebook page
