Thousands of people in Belgium will be taking to the streets this Sunday (21 July) to celebrate the country's National Day. In Brussels, the police have warned people to avoid travelling to the capital by car as it will be closing off parts of the city.
As always, Belgium's National Day will be accompanied by a series of events in the centre of Brussels, from the military and civil parade to street edutainment – stands will be set up informing the public of services in the country – and the closing concert and fireworks show in Parc du Cinquantenaire. To enable these events, the Brussels police announced a series of traffic measures.
"It is strongly recommended to come to Brussels by train or metro," the City of Brussels/Ixelles police zone said. Brussels public transport operator STIB is strengthening its service on Sunday, operating metros, trams and buses at a higher frequency until later in the night, with final transits between 01:00 and 01:30.
The four metro lines (1, 2, 5 and 6) will be boosted, with a frequency of 7.5 minutes between metros during the day and every 10 minutes after 18:00 until the end of service. The last metro from Merode station (closest to Cinquantenaire Park) will run at 01:00, with a guaranteed connection in Arts-Loi to lines 2 and 6. Eight tram lines (lines 3, 4, 7, 9, 19, 25, 81 and 92) will also run until a later hour. Additionally, bus lines 29, 36, 38, 49, 54, 56, 59, 60, 64, 71, 80, 87 and 95 will run until 01:00 or 01:30 depending on the line.
Meanwhile, people coming from outside the capital by car can leave their vehicles at large-scale park-and-ride locations just outside of the city in Kraainem, Heizel, Delta and Roodebeek, among others.
Closed squares, streets and tunnels
Place des Palais (next to the Royal Palace), where the parades will be taking place, will be closed the longest – from the morning of 19 July until 22 July around 18:00. The Poelaert exit of the Stéphanie tunnel heading towards the city centre will be closed from the evening of 20 July until 22 July around 15:00.
Meanwhile, all traffic, including buses and trams, will be banned from Place Poelaert, Rue Quatre-Bras, Rue de la Régence, the Sablon, Rue Ernest Allard, Rue Joseph Dupont, Rue Coppens, Rue Bodenbroek, Rue Ruisbroek, Place Royale, Koudenberg, Rue Belliard, Rue des Arts, Rue Ravenstein, Rue Royale between Rue de la Loi and Place Royale, and Rue Ducale between Rue de la Loi and Place du Trône from 05:00 on 21 July until the end of the festivities on the same day.
🇧🇪 Fête nationale #be2107 🇧🇪 ➡️ Il est fortement conseillé de venir à Bruxelles en train ou avec le métro dont les services seront renforcés. ℹ️ Plus d'infos sur les mesures de circulation en vigueur lors de la fête nationale de ce 21 juillet à #Bruxelles :… pic.twitter.com/aP5XzVgh6o
— PolBru (@zpz_polbru) July 16, 2024
At the start of Sunday, for the singing of the Te Deum – an ancient hymn from the Christian tradition that is associated with Belgium's Independence Day – at the Cathedral of St Michael and St Gudula on Avenue Pacheco, the St Lazarus tunnel will be closed from 06:00, while between 07:30 and 11:30, all traffic will be prohibited in the surrounding streets.
For the parade in the afternoon (taking place between 16:00 and 18:00), the Parc metro station – serviced by metro lines 1 and 5 – will be closed from 09:00, while from noon to about midnight, the Cinquantenaire, Loi and Reyer tunnels from the E40 towards the city centre will close.
All traffic will be prohibited in the formation zone of the parade from 12:30 until around 17:00. This includes the area around Boulevard Roi Albert II, Boulevard du Jardin Botanique, Rogier Square, Porte de Schaerbeek, a part of Rue de la Loi, and in all surrounding streets. This also means trams 92 and 93 will be interrupted between Louise and Botanique. Several bus lines will also be diverted or shortened.
The military and civilian parade on the Belgian National Day, in Brussels. Credit: Belga/ Nicolas Maeterlinck
From 14:00 to 18:00, traffic will be prohibited on Place du Trône, Avenue des Arts, Rue Regence, Rue Belliard, Rue du Trône, part of Rue de la Loi, Rue du Luxembourg and Rue Montoyer. Police pointed out that the parade will not pass through Rue de la Loi itself this year, due to works on the Schuman roundabout. To get the best view of the parade, police recommended going to Boulevard du Jardin Botanique and Rue Royal.
For the evening concert, all traffic is prohibited between 19:00 and midnight on Avenue de la Joyeuse entrée, Avenue de la Renaissance, Avenue des Nerviens, Avenue de l’Yser, Avenue des Gaulois, Avenue de Tervueren (until Montgomery), Schuman roundabout and Rue de la Loi. "The Reyer and Loi tunnels towards the city centre will remain closed until the end of the fireworks while the tunnels under Parc du Cinquantenaire will remain closed in both directions until the end of the fireworks," the police concluded.
