Best of Brussels in April

The signs of spring are all around us and we hope you’re enjoying these warmer and sunnier days. Welcome to the April edition of Best of Brussels!

Before we dive into our action-packed agenda, let us celebrate some of the spring wonders that you certainly spotted all around the city. Many of you have asked for recommendations, so here are a few great spots to observe gracious magnolias and our top locations to admire cherry blossoms in Brussels.

Now, let’s get busy with everything you need to know in the coming weeks 🙂

Spring marks the return of Art Brussels – the 41st edition takes place from 24 to 27 April. Renowned as one of Europe’s most distinctive and established art fairs, the event will feature 165 galleries from 35 countries, including international key players and emerging talents. Discover more!

To enjoy more great activities in the city’s lively culture & art scene, check La Monnaie’s next production, ‘I Grotteschi’. A new family saga based on the operas of Claudio Monteverdi L’Orfeo, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria and L’incoronazione di Poppea premieres on 11 April. More details here.

Nocturnes in Brussels museums continue until 24 April – use this opportunity to discover unique museums and special programmes between 18h-22h on Thursday evenings. More info

New in town, the landmark exhibition Amazônia by renowned Franco-Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado opens on 4 April at Tour & Taxis. This immersive journey into the heart of the Amazon is an invitation to see, listen, and reflect on the future of biodiversity and humanity’s place within the living world. A must-see!

For our movie aficionados, the 43rd edition of Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival BIFFF takes place from 8 to 20 April. During the festival, you can enjoy more than a hundred features and shorts as well as master classes by prestigious guests, lively debates, exceptional exhibitions, and breathtaking animations. Info here

EU Quarter tips:
Temporary exhibition Presence of the Past. A European album has just opened in the House of European History. The documentary photography expo reveals how Europeans engage with the past in their everyday lives. Discover more

Join one of the April lunch tours (on Tuesdays, from 12h15 to 13h) for a free guided tour of the new temporary exhibition in the House of European History. There will also be Slow Looking Saturday events on the first Saturday of each month (next: 5 April), where visitors can explore the exhibition at a different pace. Led by the museum’s guides, take the time for a slow looking practice, focusing at one selected picture each month.

Want to learn more about the European Parliament? Guided tours of the Hemicycle take place from Monday to Friday at 11am and 3pm. (tours in English, French and Spanish).

LUX Audience Award prize ceremony – You are invited in the Hemicycle of the European Parliament for a celebration of European cinema and the announcement of the 2025 LUX Audience Award winner on 29 April! Representatives from all films will be present. More info

The Fashion & Lace Museum will host an expo about STIJL, a boutique (located on Rue Dansaert) which played an important part in writing the story of fashion in our city. 40+ Years of Stijl is the story of a boutique, a neighbourhood, a burgeoning creative scene and an art movement with an international influence. It’s the story of artistic expressions of global importance that have taken place right on your doorstep. More here

Just around the corner, in Hotel Amigo, the annual exhibition of elaborately designed chocolate eggs Bel’Oeuf will be back for a third edition from 10 to 21 April. This year, the creations of chocolatiers will be inspired by the timeless elegance of Art Deco, an artistic movement that celebrates its centenary in 2025. Each edible egg will be offered at a price of 750 euros and proceeds will be donated to the Saint-Pierre Foundation. Get inspired with our photo story from last year.

If you are among the many eagerly awaiting for the annual opening of the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken (18 April – 11 May), dive into the rich history and grandeur of this architectural marvel by reading this interesting story from our archives.

Also happening this month:

• MAD Brussels: Expo Matching Seats brings together several remarkable pieces from the private collection of Galila Barzilai Hollander, each unique in its kind. The chosen chairs of this amazing collection are matched with contemporary fashion accessories resulting in surreal, humoristic and original conversations.
  
• Floralia is back to Groot-Bijgaarden Castle from 4 April to 2 May with a special guest star…Bee Maya! She will fly around tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths, creating the most beautiful spring walk you can imagine. Info & tickets
  
• Belgian Jazz Festival – listen to the best on the current Belgian scene in a festival setting on a human and family scale. In Théâtre du Vaudeville on 4 & 5 April. More info
  
• Brussels Short Film Festival – BSFF. 28th edition takes place in Flagey and the Vendôme cinema from 24 April to 3 May. More here
  
• Works of Art and Copies Exhibition at Art & History Museum. 17 contemporary artists are invited to a dialogue with the plaster cast workshop, its collection and the ancient craftsmanship preserved there. 17-25 April. More info
  
• Step into a world of the Land of the Rising Sun, culture, and cuisine during Japan Fes 2025, a two-day celebration of all things Japanese in Vilvoorde’s Asiat Park, a short distance from Brussels. Traditional martial arts demonstrations, tea ceremonies & cultural workshops, authentic Japanese food & drinks, arcade games and more. On 12 & 13 April. More info
  
• Stabat Mater de Pergolesi in the Cathedral of Saints Michael and Gudule on 16 April. The Holy Wednesday concert at the Cathedral in Brussels will be devoted to Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s sublime Stabat Mater, a true gem of Baroque sacred music. Composed shortly before Pergolesi’s untimely death, this poignant work explores with unparalleled depth the pain of the Virgin Mary at the foot of the cross. Doors open at 7.15pm. Free admission – free contribution to costs after the concert.
  
• When We See Us is an exhibition that explores how artists from Africa and its diaspora have represented everyday life through painting over the last century. Organized by Koyo Kouoh and his team, the exhibition brings together around 150 works by some 120 artists, divided into six themes: Everyday Life, Joy and Celebration, Repose, Sensuality, Spirituality, and Triumph and Emancipation. In Bozar until 10 August. More info
  
• Which are the boundaries between humans and wild animals? The exhibition WILD? at the Natural Sciences Museum, explores the tricky relationship via Belgian wildlife with a focus on the meaning and different perceptions of the wild: Exotic? Distant? Dangerous? Until 31 August. More info here
  
• Full Circle’s first Ideas-to-Action day on 5 April, an innovative spin-off of their annual Ideas Festival. More info
  
• After 20 years in Downtown Brussels, Alice Gallery is moving to Ixelles (Rue Isidore verheyden 2). Check their 20 Years Anniversary Show, a group exhibition featuring more than 20 artists from 18 April to 24 May. More info
  
• The Schuman Show: April 2025 Edition. Hear the news from the EU you didn’t know you missed, in a way you won’t forget. The show satirizes the decision makers and disrupts the narratives with absurd theatrical sketches, witty monologues and catchy songs. 10-12 April. Info here
  
• The Horta Museum presents Smooth as Velvet, featuring five artists who will transform the house’s walls until 30 May. This fabric choice highlights Horta’s love for textiles, especially silk, and underscores the architectural importance of textiles as a source of ornamentation. Discover more
  
• New exhibition at Villa Empain – Timeless Gazes: From Pharaohs to the present day, celebrates ancient Egypt and contemporary art in relation to the African continent. For the first time in Belgium, approximately 130 works from the prestigious collection assembled by Jean Claude Gandur is exhibited in the unique setting of the Villa Empain. From 10 April. More info
  
• The Design Museum Brussels presents the travelling exhibition SKATEBOARD, a project of the Design Museum in London, from 5 April to September 2025. The exhibition explores the development of skateboard design over seven decades, focusing on the technological and aesthetic evolution of the skateboard. More here
  
• Lucile Soufflet, Common Grounds at CID Grand-Hournu. As a regular showcase for Belgian design, the CID – centre d’innovation et de design is inviting industrial designer Lucile Soufflet to present her first solo exhibition. Until 24 August 2025. More info
  
• Memories, Jewels Sculptures Paintings, a retrospective exhibition of Belgian goldsmith Claude Wesel at Sotheby’s Brussels. From 4 – 25 April. More info
  
• Bozar hosts a solo exhibition by Berlinde De Bruyckere exploring humanity’s condition through her art. The show features 25 years of her work alongside pieces from the likes of Patti Smith and Pier Paolo Pasolini. Until 31 August. More info
  
• The Great Smurfs Adventure continues at Brussels Expo. Fans of all ages can step into their magical world, take on the role of a real Smurf and explore the Smurf village with its iconic mushroom houses and mystical forest. More info
  
• As the world’s capital of comics, an exhibition dedicated to Mr. Invincible has landed at Brussels Comic Art Museum. Mr. Invincible: Beyond the panels, explores the life of this mysterious superhero who effortlessly breaks through the panels of a comic page. While visiting the Museum, you can also jump on the exhibition A Century of Belgian Comics, available through 2025. Read more
  
• Astoria Concerts are returning to the heritage ballroom of this recently reopened Brussels hotel. The series pays tribute to its storied heritage, seamlessly blending timeless classics with the energy of vibrant new talent. More here
  
• The Jules Verne Center in Forest is hosting the exhibition Alice Guy, the world’s first filmmaker. Alice Guy was a pioneer of cinema, from her work at Gaumont, to the creation in the United States of her own company Solax, she directed more than 600 films, from short silent films to sound films. Until 29 June. More info
  
• Me Time event on 5 April at FOX Brussels. Workshops and exclusive initiations in colorimetry, medium, massage, perfume creation, make-up, pottery, intention projection… and more. Info here
  
• Through the lens of compelling documentary cinema, Millenium Festival examines the complexities of our world, exposing injustices, amplifying marginalized voices, and inspiring audiences to make a difference. Until 6 April in several Brussels cinemas with English filmmaker Ken Loach as guest of honor. Tickets
  
• Dance takes the centre stage from 3 to 11 April at the Marni Theatre for the annual D Festival. The event showcases choreographers and dancers, primarily from Brussels. For the 2025 edition, krump, stepping, and hip-hop will be combined with contemporary performance, offering a bold blend of styles. More info
  
• A world of thrilling adventures filled with fun and beloved characters! Dive into the immersive settings of Mundo Pixar and meet your favourites as you journey through Pixar’s most unforgettable movies like Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc or Inside Out. More info
  
• Videogame lovers have a date with Gabriel Massan’s Bozar Arcade exhibition from 28 March. After stopping at Pinacoteca São Paulo, Ars Electronica festival Linz and MAAT in Lisbon, it comes to Bozar for another stop of its international tour. More info
  
• Another photography exhibition is in the spotlight in Brussels in April: ICONS, a retrospective of the acclaimed US photographer Steve McCurry, author of the immortal portrait of young Afghan girl Sharbat Gula, cover of National Geographic in 1985. Enjoy this exceptional display with more than 100 images until September in Grand-Place.
  
• We call it Flamenco is a magical show that immerses you in the Spanish culture without leaving Brussels. Discover 6 of the 50 different styles of flamenco performed by professional artists at Espace Lumen! Tickets
  
• The Design Museum Brussels presents Untold Stories – Women Designers in Belgium, 1880-1980, the works of over 50 women designers and makers active in Belgium between 1880 and 1980. Featuring a diverse range of objects, many of which have never been displayed before. This groundbreaking showcase celebrates the under-appreciated contributions of women to Belgian craft and design. Until 13 April. More info
  
• Art Pops expo at the Belfius Art Centre on Place Rogier. These annual exhibitions on the top floor of Belfius building have become an unmissable addition to the art scene in the Belgian capital. Discover more

If you are into music, do not miss our unique selection of festivals, concerts and parties all around Brussels & Belgium – check the April music agenda by our collaborator David Vidal Sans.