Another rainy weekend is on the cards for Brussels, and as the days get shorter heading outside can seem less appealing. Luckily, there are plenty of indoor events in Brussels and beyond to avoid those autumn blues. Find our favourites below!
Alternative festivals
Pink Screens Film Festival, various locations in Brussels, until 18 November
This ten-day event is rapidly becoming one of the most prominent queer film festivals in Europe. It celebrates sexuality and gender and deconstructs the binary through a wide range of short and feature films, documentaries, exhibitions, as well as parties including the unmissable Pink Night closing party.
Credit: Pink Screens Festival
The festival's highlight is undoubtedly Kokomo City: a passionate portrait of four black trans sex workers in New York and Georgia with spellbinding black and white shots, accompanied by a carefully crafted soundtrack. The conversations that emerge are deep and funny reflections on socio-political realities as well as insightful analyses of their experiences.
Find more information here.
EXPORT/IMPORT FESTIVAL, Bronks Brussels, until 12 November
Over the course of four days, the funniest, most inventive and touching performances of the moment will take to the stage in Brussels, put on by youth theatre companies from France, Spain, Denmark, Canada, South Africa, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Credit: EXPORT/IMPORT FESTIVAL
Whether you are an avid theatre fan or enjoy a circus or dance performance, there is something for everyone on this year's programme.
Find more information here.
Arts, music and culture
'Music City Hall', Grand Place, Sunday 12 November
The sixth edition of 'Music City Hall' is coming to Brussels City Hall in Grand Place this weekend, where the public will be able to enjoy 18 free concerts in various rooms of the building from 14:00 to 20:30.
Credit: Music City Hall
The programme will include performances by hip-hop artist Spacebabymatcha, Laila Amezian, Chaabi Habibi Andaloussi, Flamenco Puro Tawsen and jazz and soul singer Jazmyn.
The Salle Gothique will host performances by classical composer Frederik Croene and contemporary pianist Eric Bribosia. DJ duo Groove Travellerz will be bringing the Salle des Milices to life with a five-hour DJ set.
Find more information here.
Black Lives: From generation to generation, Flagey, Friday 10 November
The Flagey cultural centre will come alive on Friday as no fewer than 25 musicians from the USA, Caribbean and Africa will each take to the stage, performing a rich sample of the infinite number of ways to conceive Black existence in the world.
Credit: Black Lives from generation to generation
The concert highlights the diversity of generations and musical backgrounds of the artists. But beyond this variety, the musicians are united by the desire to fight for equality and justice through music, which they will showcase when coming together on the stage for the grand finale.
Find more information here.
DUOLOGUE, Gallery Sofie Van den Bussche, until 12 November
DUOLOGUE is an exhibition that brings together the works of two Brussels artists, Christian Noirfalise and Luc Vandervelde Lux, whose styles in many ways vary wildly but in other aspects show similarities.
Credit: Gallery Sofie Van den Bussche
Find more information here.
Further afield
Antica Fine Art Fair, Namur, until 19 November
The meeting place for art and antiquities lovers: Antica Namur, which ranks among the top European fairs, is returning to the Walloon capital this autumn and has once again taken particular care to select the very best galleries and antique dealers.
Credit: Visit Wallonia
Over 135 Belgian, French, Dutch, German, Italian, Swiss, Spanish and Luxembourg-based exhibitors will gather over ten days. They will showcase a wide range of decorative arts from the 18th and 19th centuries, old masters, modern and contemporary paintings, antique and art jewellery and furniture from the Haute Epoque to the modern era.
Find more information here.
