A Brussels-themed festival will take place in the Southern French city of Mougins (near Cannes) on 10 and 11 June, celebrating the Belgian capital's gastronomy and comic strip cartoons.
The festival is organised by the Brussels Region Tourist Office as part of its international promotional tours, many of which take place in France. In autumn 2021, similar festivals took place in Lyon and Rennes.
The Wallonia-Brussels Federation has provided €60,000 for the 'Bruxelles se fête à Mougins' festival, says French-speaking Minister responsible for promoting Brussels, Valérie Glatigny.
Showcasing the best of Brussels
The Brussels Tourist Office has invited four artisans to prepare emblematic Brussels dishes such as chips, sweet and savoury waffles, croquettes and chocolate. A wide selection of the capital's beers will also be available for the 10,000 visitors expected over the two-day celebration.
French visitors will be able to get a taste of the activities traditionally on offer over the Comic Strip Festival in September in Brussels. With face-painting workshops, Smurf mascots, giant balloons and a comic book hunt, comic book fans are in for a treat. An exhibition of the Comic Strip Trail will also be held in Mougins to celebrate the 60 frescoes that decorate the capital's walls.
Another exhibition, devoted to the illustrator Pieter De Poortere, best known for his Boerke character, will also take place in the city just north of Cannes.
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Minister Valérie Glatigny will be attending the festival in Mougins this weekend, describing the event as a "showcase for the quality of Brussels' hotel and catering expertise".
French visitors represent a significant proportion of tourists in Brussels. France is the leading foreign nation to spend overnight stays in the capital, with a market share of around 12%, putting them ahead of Spain, Germany and the United States.
"The French were also the first to return to Brussels after Covid", explains Rodolphe Van Weyenbergh, Secretary General of the Brussels Hotels Association. The number of overnight stays by French tourists in Brussels last year (850,927) exceeded the number recorded in 2019, according to figures from Visit.Brussels.
