Best of Brussels in July

Dear readers, we hope you found your own way to stay cool during the recent heatwave. As things gently return to Brussels’ usual pace, don’t miss the chance to enjoy some of the city’s most refreshing events and happenings over the coming weeks. The historic show of the Ommegang sets the tone of July. This is a true spectacle with over 1,400 actors, folk and historic groups, horses, puppet theaters, giants, and flags.

The show started on 2 July and you can still see it on 4 July at the Grand-Place, starting at 20:45 You can also catch a glimpse of the past with more fun activities: the Rennaissance village & market, crossbow shooting competition, equestrian jousting and pre-cortege procession throughout the city centre. Check the full programme.

Celebrate Belgium
Every year, traditional Bal National creates an amazing atmosphere of dancing together in the streets, on the square and terraces of Place du Jeu de Balle in the authentic Marollen district. Join the Belgian party from 19h on 20 July or take part in Resto National on 21 July (17-22h) for a Grand “Moules-Frites” dinner on the square. More details

National Day festivities, 21 July. A host of free events, parades and visits await you from 10 to 21h, between the Parc de Bruxelles / Warandepark and the Place Poelaert. As usual, there will be also a concert and fireworks with laser and drone show at the Cinquantenaire from 21h. More info

Did you know? Exceptional Summer Opening of the Pavilion of Human Passions from 1 July to 31 August. Hidden in Brussels’ Cinquantenaire Park, this neoclassical gem was the first public commission for the young Victor Horta. Inside, there is an impressive relief by Jef Lambeaux, a monumental Carrara marble masterpiece depicting the pleasures and misfortunes of humanity. The Pavillon has sparked imaginations since its completion in 1898. Free to visit, open daily from 10 to 18h.

New expo has just opened at the House of European History, Raising our roots – Bruxelles à travers onze ogen. Created by the Echoes collective, a group of 15 young adults from Brussels aged between 18 and 26, from different neighbourhoods, with a shared interest in Europe’s past, present and future. Together, they explored who is represented in history, how, and why, and what this means to young people today.

Tips for kids-friendly summer activities:
For young explorers with a curious eye (and their parents), Brussels City Hall on the Grand Place offers more than just a photo opportunity. Step inside the storied halls with the help of an inventive children’s parcours – part treasure hunt, part architectural deep-dive, brought to life through smart, interactive video guides. The experience is immersive, multilingual (French, Dutch, English, German, Italian and Spanish), and entirely self-paced, making it fun & engaging for all generations. It’s a fresh way to see one of the city’s most iconic buildings and a perfect summer activity for the whole family.

New in town: Immersive expo Dino World. 🦕 Wander through an educational and playful trail filled with life-sized, moving dinosaurs in an impressive indoor and outdoor jungle spanning over 5,000 m². More than 55 animated dinos bring prehistory to life in Palais 2 at Brussels Expo. Perfect for families and dino fans of all ages.

At Bozar, summer promises to be vibrant with exhibitions and new experiences: a monumental installation by Michael Beutler transforms the architecture of the Hall Horta into a living sculpture; and an outdoor programme of activities takes over the rooftop.

For the summer, Boghossian Foundation presents the works of the 2024 International Prize laureates at the Villa Empain. The selected artists were celebrated for their exceptional talent in the fields of visual arts, design, and jewellery. Until 17 August.

Summer Wonders invites you to join the Boat and its party cruises from 4 until 13 July. The Boat, part of Quai d’Été, will be sailing daily this summer for musical cruises in collaboration with local collectives. Think: open-air DJ sets, aperitifs on the water, and parties with a view of the city.

From 4 to 6 July, Cinquantenaire Park will come alive with a new edition of Brussels Urban Sessions – a unique festival that blends elite urban sports, street culture, live music, and public-friendly activities. Think BMX Freestyle competitions featuring international athletes and Olympic medalists, 3×3 basketball, parkour, and skateboarding contests, initiations, concerts and DJ sets all weekend.

In the heart of Brussels Park, Vaux-Hall offers a true cultural hideaway during the summer. Enjoy a vibrant and diverse program: creative workshops, outdoor screenings, surprising performances, DJ sets for dancing at sunset… and much more. Until 13 July, free entry.

Did you know?

Art Nouveau Pass by Brussels Museums has been extended to include several Art Deco gems and thematic exhibitions. As Belgian capital marks the 2025 Year of Art Deco, the special edition of popular Art Nouveau Pass now allows everyone to discover Brussels’ Art Nouveau and Art Deco masterpieces in one easy and affordable package.

Tartine et boterham, the guide to artisanal bakeries and patisseries in Brussels and Wallonia, recently launched its own “bakery run”. Matcha, coffee & bakery runs are becoming a popular community phenomenon in cities like London, Paris & Los Angeles and Brussels has now joined the ranks.

Cocktail bar tip: A recent addition to the cocktail bars scene, tucked away in the heart of TheMerode mansion on the prestigious Place Poelaert, Ökēn has already sparked the imagination of Brusseleirs as one of the most avant-garde cocktail bar in town. Get inspired.

Future travel connections: Eurostar plans to launch new services in the “early 2030s,” including a link between Brussels and Geneva. More here

New: Viva Frida Kahlo immersive show returns with a brand new 360° experience, even more intense and sensory. Monumental projections, multilingual narration, and spatialized sound immerse you in the life, work, and struggles of this fascinating Mexican artist. Discover more

Ideas for this summer:

A whole new section dedicated to Belgian Art Nouveau and Art Deco is open in Art & History Museum Brussels. Explore long-hidden collections including iconic works by Victor Horta, Henry van de Velde, Paul Hankar, and others. Highlight: The fully restored Winter Garden of the House of Cousin, a true gem of Belgian design. More here .See the landmark exhibition Amazônia – an invitation to see, listen, and reflect on the future of biodiversity and humanity’s place within the living world. Expo features works of Sebastião Salgado, celebrated Brazilian photographer who captured striking images of humanity and nature in the Amazon rainforest. Open every day during July & August.

Get lost in the World of Mind (WOM) museum, an extraordinary fusion of science, magic, and sensory exploration. Spanning an impressive 1,500 m², WOM does more than showcase illusions – it immerses visitors in a world where perception and imagination intertwine, challenging our understanding of reality at every turn. Open every day during July & August.

EU Quarter tips:

Summer Readings in the Citizens’ Garden are back. Enjoy a cultural break on your lunchtime with authors from Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Slovakia and Ukraine. The readings can exceptionally take place in the EP Info Hub due to weather conditions. Upcoming events on 3, 8, 9 & 10 July at 12:30 PM.

Summer Lunch Tours: Join one of the July lunch tours in the House of European History (on Tuesdays, from 12h15 to 13h) for a free guided tour – this month’s focus: European stories around the rooms of a house. From the living room to the attic, come and let history surprise you. The tours are offered in English and no booking required. Start at the Family Kiosk.

The House of European History hosts their first ever photography exhibition, titled Presence of the Past. A European album. The documentary photo expo reveals how people across Europe engage with the past in their everyday lives. Discover more

Slow looking Saturdays – as part of the Presence of the Past temporary exhibition, on the 5 July and 2 August visitors can take the chance to examine one particular artefact from the exhibition led by a facilitator. Learn more

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).

Brussels Music Agenda

Vijver Festival (11/7 – 12/7): a two-day festival in Dilbeek Park featuring artists in styles ranging from rock, pop and country, as well as DJ sets late into the night. Welcoming, accessible to impaired mobility and easy to get to by all forms of public transport, it will be a fun summer weekend.

Afrodisiac (12/7 – 13/7): a cultural festival dedicated to African culture, children’s rights, arts and solidarity. This year, the focus is on Congo and its children’s future, so Bois de la Cambre will be full of exhibitions, activity and even culinary experiences inspired by and in support of children in Africa and the challenges they face, raising awareness and encouraging action.

Les Estivales de la Woluwe (21/6 – 16/7): eight amazing concerts in Woluwe-st-Lambert spanning three and a half weeks showcasing various musical universes including winds, choir, tango…

If you’re into music and dancing, check out the unique selection of festivals, concerts and parties all around Brussels & Belgium in our July music agenda

Iconic tram 44 rides again from 21 June! The most scenic tram route is back after two years of renovations. The leafy route connects Montgomery station on the edge of the Etterbeek and Sint-Pieters Woluwe with Tervuren. Photo by @darshpham

Also happening this month:

• The Midis-Minimes Festival offers 35-minute classical music concerts during the summer. Performances take place Monday through Friday (at 12:15 p.m.) at the Notre-Dame des Victoires au Sablon church, the Cercle Royale Gaulois, and the Egmont Palace. From 1 July to 29 August.
• Bruxelles fait son cinéma, inspired by Mediterranean tradition, has offered a selection of quality films with the aim of promoting intercultural exchange and discovery by transforming squares and parks into pop-up movie theaters. More
• Fashion & Lace Museum hosts an expo about STIJL, the iconic boutique located on Dansaertstraat, 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.
• All over at Horta Museum. From Art Deco to Modernism (1910-1945), this expo showcases decorative richness of textiles, carpets, wallpapers by Belgian and international artists. Until 2 November.
• They may come from different eras and disciplines, but Victor Horta, Henry van de Velde, Paul Delvaux, and Santiago Calatrava shared a common passion: trains. Draw Me A Train is an exhibition at Train World museum that celebrates this fascination, showcasing works by these exceptional artists who captured the beauty of rail travel. For the first time ever, the public can also view original drawings by Victor Horta linked to his work on Brussels Central Station. On display until August 2025.
• Van Buuren Museum and Gardens celebrates a double anniversary: 50 years of the Museum and the 100th anniversary of the Art Deco movement. On this occasion, a new exhibition Around Art Deco. Interbellum Sculptures, presents sculptures from the interwar period in the Museum’s magnificent gardens. Until 28 September.
• Big in Japan expo at Autoworld museum takes us on a journey to the fascinating Land of the Rising Sun. Discover the richness of Japanese automotive history filled with iconic vehicles, fascinating stories, and wander through atmospheric scenes drawn from Japanese life – from vibrant cityscapes to tranquil temple gardens. From 3 July to 31 August
• Brosella, an iconic music festival held annually since 1977 is back from 4 to 6 July. Held in the Groentheater, at the foot of the Atomium, this is a unique experience where music lovers of all ages come together to enjoy outdoor jazz & urban ethno concerts, featuring local and international artists amidst picturesque surroundings.
• ART DECO. Style in a changing society at Belvue museum. The King Baudouin Foundation is showcasing Art Deco pieces from its collection, offering a captivating journey through sculptures by renowned artists such as Marcel Wolfers and Oscar Jespers, vases by Charles Catteau, glassware by Val Saint Lambert, decorative tiles, stylised book bindings, furniture, medals, and much more.
• Art Deco 1925 >< Mode 2025 in Halles Saint-Géry offering a reinterpretation of Art Deco through the prism of 10 Brussels designers.
• At MAD Brussels, you can see “Come as You Are,” a fashion exhibition by Belgian photographer Laetitia Bica showcasing portraits of dancers, drag artists or DJs styled by local designers.
• Magical Realism: Imagining Natural Dis/order, running until September at Wiels, brings together over thirty visual artists in an exhibition offering new ideas and perspectives on the relationship with our planet. Info here
• 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
• The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium presents Spilliaert Room, a new room dedicated to the poetic and mysterious world of the Belgian painter, illustrator and draughtsman Léon Spilliaert.
• 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
• Visit two exhibitions at Villa Empain – In the frame of the centenary commemoration of Art Deco in 2025, the Boghossian Foundation is presenting a thematic exhibition on this key movement in Brussels. Echoes of Art Deco invites visitors to explore the iconic architecture of the Villa Empain, a paragon of Art Deco with an eventful past. Set against the lively musical backdrop of the era, the exhibition offers an immersive experience into the lifestyle of the Roaring Twenties.
• Another expo 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.
• The Design Museum Brussels presents the travelling exhibition Skateboard, a project of the Design Museum in London, until 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. 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
• Wait and See – Mitja Tušek in collaboration with Bertille Bak have created a series of works with humour and seriousness, both artists questioning the image and representation at the Centrale for Contemporary Art. Until 24 August.
• Napoleon, the Immersive Saga is a virtual reality experience at the Royal Military Museum. Under the dark clouds of the Atlantic, Napoleon welcomes you to his last abode on Saint Helena. The emperor, exiled and reclusive, takes you into his confidence and lets you delve into his memories. Info here
• Expo 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. More than 100 images on display until September.
• 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.
• 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
• Cirque du Soleil is back in Belgium with Alegría, a classic spectacle reborn for a new era, with iconic music, stunning acrobatics, vibrant sets, and whimsical humor. Shows start in Knokke from 25 July to 24 August and then move to Brussels from 12 September to 2 November. More here

Did you know? The Buda Bridge recently celebrated its 70th anniversary. Port of Brussels / Neder-over-Heembeek. Photo by Eric Ostermann.