Spring Vibes: Best of Brussels in April

It’s that time of the year when the city’s finest natural spectacle is upon us: cherry blossom season. The trees typically peak in the first two weeks of April but the chance to see the bloom is really short. If you’re wondering where to go, check our guide with 11 top spots to admire cherry blossoms in Brussels. Get inspired and explore immediately before the show is over.

Pro tip: A short walk from the EU quarter, Schaerbeek is the classic destination – Avenue Emile Max and the surrounding streets form a famous pink tunnel that draws photographers from across Belgium. But we really recommend you to also check some less known gems such as the garden-city neighbourhoods of Le Logis and Floréal in Watermael-Boitsfort, dotted with Japanese cherry trees.

Top pick this month:
The 42nd edition of Art Brussels is back from 23 to 26 April at Brussels Expo. This year’s fair brings together 139 galleries from 26 countries with a strong focus on quality over scale. The engaging gallery line-up, the new Horizons section (an area for large-scale works and reflection), a major new site-specific installation at the entrance of the fair, charity project with KickCancer, and the leading prizes that recognise the work of galleries and artists all contribute to an enriching, immersive experience.

What we love? This is one of Europe’s key contemporary art events where collectors, art enthusiasts, curators, and artists connect and yet it is intimate enough to navigate properly. Special tip: If you’re 16–26, grab your €10 Youth Ticket and dive into the fair.

New on our website: Check out our new series – Brussels Retail Edit, featuring updates on the most recent store openings from local and global brands, trends, analysis and inspirations from Elisa Servais, Brussels retail design expert.

We also talked to Brussels-based founders of Le Rendez Woof, to uncover the story behind a brand new social network app for dogs 🙂

Ideas for the coming weeks:
Parcours d’Artistes in Saint-Gilles returns for its 19th edition from 10 to 19 April, free and open to all. This year’s theme is AI – Artistic Intelligence, proposing the creative process as a form of resistance. The event features open studios and workshops of nearly 300 local artists, alongside talks, participatory workshops, performances and screenings – a wonderful way to explore the neighbourhood. The programme opens on Friday 10 April, with a festive evening on the Parvis.

Closing very soon:
Visit Maison Hannonto see the current expo Echoes of Dreams.The beautiful exhibition presents Belgian Symbolism set in a very unique museum of Brussels. Built in 1902, the house embodies a rare synthesis of naturalism and symbolism, enabling the artworks to interact with everyday life and to mediate between the viewer and an inner world. Until 19 April. Get inspired!

Photography lovers, you have time until 19 April to see a major retrospective devoted to Robert Doisneau, one of the greatest masters of 20th-century photography. This special expo at La Boverie in Liège features nearly 400 images, ranging from his early work in the 1930s to the end of his career.

In the historic Maison Autrique, an early work by Victor Horta and a landmark of Art Nouveau in Brussels, temporary expo Loisirs – Plezier Brussels makes us step back into the 1920s and 30s, a vibrant era marked by the rise of sound film, radio, sports and popular entertainment. The exhibition portrays the leisure and daily life of the inhabitants of Brussels between the two wars. Until 12 April.

We don’t even dare suggest you to visit the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken, because while you’re reading this, the tickets are already gone. 🙁 Every spring, this is Brussels’ bittersweet story: one of the most extraordinary experiences, open for just three weeks a year, and sold out shortly after tickets go live. If you didn’t get a ticket, we invite you to read our archive story The royal greenhouses, greener than ever. It will give you a proper sense of what’s inside those extraordinary iron-and-glass cathedrals and the sheer scale of what Alphonse Balat built at the end of the 19th century.

WeLoveBrussels activities for groups: Guided Walk & Beer

Looking for an authentic way to experience Brussels while enjoying one of Belgium’s most typical products? Our Brussels Guided Walk with a Belgian Beer Finale offers the perfect blend of culture, history and conviviality – all wrapped up in a relaxed city walk that ends with a well-deserved artisanal Belgian beer.

City Vibe: Stories that caught our attention lately

The Palace of Justice renovation is set to cost over €600 million, according to new figures from the federal Buildings Administration. The scaffolding that has wrapped Brussels’ most dominant skyline presence since 1984 is gradually coming down but the interior works have barely begun, and the project may not be complete until 2035. The scale of the building (26,000 square metres when completed in 1883, the largest in Europe at the time) makes it a uniquely complex restoration.

The New York Times has dedicated a piece to a very Brussels story: the extraordinary wardrobe of the Manneken Pis. The world’s most dressed statue has accumulated over a thousand costumes since the tradition began, and the NYT finds the whole thing very fascinating. A reminder of how the city’s most famous resident continues to surprise the world.

Kanal-Centre Pompidou has been named by the BBC as one of the six most important museum openings in the world in 2026, and the only European destination on the list! The former Citroën factory along the Brussels canal opens on 28 November as Europe’s largest new museum development, in partnership with Paris’ Centre Pompidou (which is itself closed for renovation until 2030). Brussels has been waiting a long time for a museum of this scale and ambition.

The Guardian zooms in on the Marolles district – “A friendly, cosmopolitan village where everyone is welcome”. If you are looking for a fun way to explore this neighborhood with a group, check our team-building activity in this emblematic Brussels quarter.

And finally, a piece (in Dutch) for those who ponder about the future of the city: developer Johan Vandendriessche gave BRUZZ a frank interview arguing that Brussels must reclaim its ambition and grandeur – a direct, sometimes uncomfortable take on what the city has lost and what it could become. Whether you agree or not, it’s the kind of conversation Brussels needs to be having more openly.

More April tips:

Nocturnes continue until 23 April- seven consecutive Thursdays during which more than 40 Brussels museums open for evening visits. A wonderful format that transforms familiar institutions into something different.

Passa Porta, the international house of literature in Brussels has a new event this month: A Good Crisis (and How Not to Waste It) with Ece Temelkuran – 23 April, at Flagey. A book presentation and interview with Turkish author will focus on her book Nation of Strangers and on rebuilding a sense of home in the 21st century. More info

Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF) is on until18 April. Cult cinema, fantasy, horror, the legendary Vampire Ball, and an atmosphere that is entirely its own. Whether you go for one film or the full programme, it’s worth experiencing.

Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra joins forces with the Europa Dance Company (the Brussels Junior Ballet), to present a new choreographic creation on 10 April. Four Seasons Recomposed is set to the music of Max Richter, who admired and reimagined Vivaldi’s music. Expect fifteen dancers alongside twenty classical musicians live – an intimate and ambitious pairing on the stage of NOVUM Theater in Etterbeek, the magnificent Art Deco venue. Formerly known as Théâtre Saint-Michel, it is one of Brussels’ most under-appreciated performance spaces.

I am Here, new exhibition at Espace Vanderborght – a group show exploring presence, identity and the act of bearing witness. The Vanderborght building in the city centre is itself one of Brussels’ hidden architectural gems.

Another new expo this month: Designing Childhood – a history of design for children, at the Design Museum Brussels.

For sports fans, Brussels Premier Padel is back from 19–26 April at Gare Maritime. For one exceptional week, Brussels becomes the world capital of padel.

EU Quarter tips:

The House of European History is getting ready for its newest expo: Postcolonial? The exhibition will feature unique artworks, historical objects and personal stories, leading the visitors throughout the much-needed European reckoning with colonialism. Entrance is free. Mark your calendar for the opening event on 17 April, an evening of performance, sound and collective reflection.

You can also join the Tuesday Lunchtime Tour in the museum on 21 April: Meet the team that helped create and shape the latest exhibition and dive into the powerful questions about colonial legacies and their lasting impact in today’s world. Free access, no booking required. Start at the Family Kiosk at 12:15.

Tuesday Concerts at the European Parliament’s Info Hub continue this Spring. The lunch-hour concerts bring a touch of live classical music and calm into the heart of the busy district. Free access and no booking required. A perfect ritual for anyone working in or near the EU Quarter. Next concerts: 21 & 28 April.

Various community & neighbourhood updates: 
Full Circle hosts a book club on 16 April, a monthly meet up to discuss a great read, along with drinks & good company. There is also an open day on 25 April if you’re curious to learn more.

The Art Society Brussels has a new lecture on 8 April – A Tale of Vanity Fair: Constable’s Treslove, Portraits Re-discovered by Sarah Cove. Event starts at 20h (welcome at 19:30) at Woluwe-St-lambert town hall (metro Tomberg).

Latest at The Nine club in the EU Quarter: April events.

A piece of good news: the Musée d’Ixelles has announced its reopening for Spring next year, after a major renovation. A festive open weekend is planned for 19 – 21 March 2027. The museum holds one of the finest collections of 19th and 20th century Belgian art.

New in the city: Espresso lovers, this is your spot – Lil’Bouche (related to two other popular Bouche cafes) just opened in a beautiful location, a few steps from the Grand Place. On the menu: many variations of espressos but also the usual suspects – cappuccinos, lattes, matcha, etc. See our video here.

Jessie J, Rosalia, Alex Warren, Franz Ferdinand and Eric Clapton are some of the artists visiting Belgium in April. Check our Brussels Music Agenda for the full list of concerts, festivals and music events this month!

Also happening:

• Beauty and Ugliness in the Renaissance – Bellezza e Bruttezza at Bozar explores how artists from Italy and Northern Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries depicted these extremes, from refined ideals to deliberate grotesques. A rare opportunity to see extraordinary works, some appearing in Belgium for the first and only time. Expect paintings, drawings, and sculptures, with works by great masters such as Botticelli, Cranach, and Massys.
• MAD Brussels has a new show: Home Sweet Home, an exhibition reimagining birdhouses through design. It explores what a home can mean today through more than 75 birdhouses, designed by leading Belgian and international designers.
• Back to Pompeii exhibition at Tour & Taxis – Plunge back in time to Pompeii, the ancient city that was frozen in time by the Vesuvius. Experience the daily life of a Pompeian family in immersive settings of exceptional quality and explore reconstructed Roman homes, artisan workshops and entertainment venues. Get inspired with our insta video tour!
• BELDAVIA – Votre nouvelle terre d’acceuil (your new host country) is an interactive and committed exhibition-action at La Fonderie – Brussels Museum of Industry and Labour. Learn more about this place in our article Small Museums, Big Stories.
• Burning the Days at WIELS Museum. An exhibition dedicated to the incisive and enigmatic work of Lutz Bacher, a key figure in American conceptual art. Through photographs, appropriations, and plays on identity, the show questions the mechanisms of power, gender, and representation that permeate contemporary visual culture, engaging in dialogue with the museum’s industrial space. Until August.
• “SILVA” group exhibition at Arthus Gallery brings together six artists whose practices explore matter as a living territory. Wood, minerals, images, and surfaces are worked, altered, or recomposed through gesture, time, and sometimes chance. Until 25 April.
• Brussels Short Film Festival, an event dedicated to short films in all their forms. With over 300 films and meetings with filmmakers, it’s a vibrant event for discovering emerging international talent. Various locations, from 22 April to 2 May.
• The Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula celebrates eight centuries of history with a special program combining music, heritage, and spirituality. A true masterpiece of Brabantine Gothic, the cathedral has dominated Brussels since the 13th century. Activities, tours, and commemorative events invite you to discover this iconic landmark from a fresh perspective. All events on Gudula 26.
• LUMINISCENCE, a unique sensory journey where light and live music unite to bring the history of this legendary monument back to life. Monumental 360 degrees video mapping projections transform the stone into a living work of art along with region’s finest choirs performing the great classics of Gregorian music. More shows in April to celebrate the Gudula Year 2026.
• Spain takes over this year’s edition of Europalia festival, bringing visual arts, music, flamenco, cinema, literature and talks to over 30 different venues.
• Exhibition Biblioteca Nacional by Elsa Paricio opened in the Project Space of the Villa Empain.For the first time in Belgium, the Spanish artist presents a series of works on paper, videos, and installations. The original scenography, specially created for the exhibition, revolves around the monumental work Biblioteca Nacional, a poetic accumulation of traces, a memory in the making.
• The Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences invites you to take flight and discover how animals and humans are able to soar through the skies. An exhibition that explores both nature and technology, FLIGHT presents a magnificent array of fossils, stuffed birds and model aeroplanes. Recommended for visitors aged 10 and above. Until 9 August.
• 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.

We hope you are enjoying our monthly Brussels edit! We pull together the most interesting local events, mixed with inspiring stories & tips so you can make the most of city life.