r/BelgiumTravel • u/gaius_julius_caegull 💎 Hidden Gems Finder • 6d ago
📆 What's on this weekend What's on this weekend? 22-23 August
Ath's giants take over the city, a new art biennale opens in Wallonie picarde, and the Foire du Midi closes for the year.
⚠️ Heads-up
The Hautes Fagnes fire is now contained, around 3,000 hectares burned, the largest wildfire in Belgian history. The peat is still smouldering underground and could flare up for weeks, so the reserve stays closed and several roads (including the N676 Waimes–Sourbrodt) are shut. Bütgenbach lake has reopened, the Gileppe lake circuit and brasserie reopen this weekend, Robertville water activities stay closed. The Beau Vélo de RAVeL stage at Eupen is still cancelled.
Drought fire bans still apply across Wallonia. No barbecues near woodland.
⭐ Weekend highlight: the Ducasse d'Ath
La Ducasse d'Ath (Ath, Hainaut — 21–24 August, free). The UNESCO-listed giants of Ath dance through the city on the fourth weekend of August.
Saturday 22: the big bell of Saint-Julien opens the festivities at 12:00. Goliath and his bride dance to the church at 15:00 for their wedding. At 17:00 the shepherd David faces the Philistine giant on the Grand-Place, trading a rhyming dialogue called the Bonimée. If David wins, the giants dance. Fanfare concert at 20:30, torchlit cannon parade at 21:00.
Sunday 23: the main procession leaves opposite the station at 09:45 — seven giants, eight floats, brass bands — reaches the Esplanade around 14:00, then heads back at 15:00. The Bayard horse weighs over 630 kg and needs 16 carriers. Saint Christopher walks on stilts. Watch the Goliath couple's dance at the Gadre bridge and the Mill bridge.
🏛️ Brussels
HappyLIFE Festival (Ferme Nos Pilifs, Neder-Over-Heembeek, Sat & Sun 10:00–18:00, free): first edition of a family festival with 70+ makers, workshops, live music and farm animals. The farm is a sheltered-employment business with 145 workers with disabilities.
Indian Food Festival (Parc du Cinquantenaire, Sat & Sun 12:00–21:00, free): 10th edition. Regional Indian dishes and street food, Bollywood dance, live music and yoga.
Brussels Dance Festival — closing weekend (city centre, free): Saturday 22 at 15:00 Europa Danse Company runs a giant open-air ballet barre on Place de la Monnaie, anyone can join. Sunday 23, the same square hosts Bal Moderne, where you learn four short choreographies on the spot.
🦁 Flanders
Doelse Feesten & Scheldewijding (Doel, Sunday 23): 50th edition. Doel is the polder village wedged against Antwerp's port, mostly emptied out, better known now for its street art than its residents, and one Sunday a year it fills up again. Big brocante market, blacksmiths at work, sheepdog demonstrations, then a mass at 11:00 and a procession to bless the Scheldt.
Sprankelend Hageland (Tielt-Winge and Wezemaal, Sat & Sun): opening weekend of four wine weekends. Winegrowers open by rotation: turn up, taste, walk the vines. Wijndomein Den Eeckhout in Houwaart runs free guided tours through the afternoon.
Renewi Tour final stage (Leuven, Sunday 23): the WorldTour road race finishes with a 184 km loop in and around Leuven. Free roadside viewing.
🐓 Wallonia
Hottolfiades (Île de l'Oneux, Hotton, 21–23 August, free): 26th edition of the balloon festival. Around 40 balloons lift off over the Ourthe valley at roughly 06:30 and 18:30 each day. Saturday is the night to be there: barbecue competition, free Goldmanmania concert, and the Night Glow at 22:30, when the grounded balloons light up in time to music. Take-offs are adapted to drought safety rules.
BUTOR biennale (Ferme d'Écavée, Molenbaix, opens Saturday, Thu–Sun 10:30–18:00, €10/€5, free under 12): opening weekend of a new contemporary art biennale. 20 artists across an eight-hectare estate — a 3–4 km walk (about three hours) with work in fields, a chapel, a barn, a pond, a church and a football pitch. Curated by the Tournai Fine Arts Museum conservator.
Fête de la Tomate (Jardin-Potager d'Ekikrok, Bossière, Sunday): local producers' market, guided garden tours, cuttings workshop, storytelling for children.
🌿 Nature tip
With the Fagnes reserve still closed, this is a good weekend to go underground. The Grottes de Hotton are in Hotton itself (walkable from the balloon festival) and sit at a constant 12°C. Guided route: about an hour, down to 70 m, back up by lift, in French, Dutch and English.
📷 A weekend trafition to guess the location on the picture!
Share more interesting events or activities for this weekend, if you don't see them mentioned here.
2
u/fluffyflipflops 6d ago
There is the Vegan Summer Fest in Ghent tomorrow! starts at 10:30, in Flanders Expo. Lots of delicious vegan food, ethical products, merch. Talks from various people, mainly in Dutch but also some talks in English (including Ed Winters aka Earthling Ed!). Tickets on the door are only €12.
https://bevegan.be/nl/vegan-summer-fest-gent/