Best of Brussels in October

It’s finally time to embrace autumn. As true city optimists, we’re choosing to skip the usual summertime sadness and instead look forward to the wonderfully busy season ahead. There’s plenty to discover, see and do around Brussels and we’re very much ready for it. 🙂

Top ideas for the coming weeks:

Museum Night Fever on 17 October – Where museums go as wild as you. From 19:00 to 01:00, this will be another night to remember in 28 museums, with over 100 activities proposed by emerging artists, and 2 afterparties at C12 and Botanique. Check the full programme.

Upcoming weekend (10/11 October) is your new chance to enjoy the ANTE Festival. Celebrating Brussels architecture from the ‘long 19th century’, festival offers interior tours of rarely opened houses, guided walks, talks and a wide range of activities.

The 12th edition of ARTONOV Festival is back until 23 October at various venues across town. As Belgium and Japan celebrate the 160th anniversary of their cultural and diplomatic relations, ARTONOV invites artists from both countries to explore new dialogues between heritage and contemporary creation.

From 16 October, Art & History Museum presents a major exhibition dedicated to contemporary Inuit art from Nunavut and Nunavik, in the Canadian Arctic. Expo brings together nearly 250 works, including sculptures, drawings and remarkable prints.

Since 2006, Belgium’s “Designer of the Year” award has celebrated the country’s leading creative talent. To mark its 20th edition, all 20 laureates come together at MAD Brussels in Icons, an exhibition spanning contemporary design from ceramics and silversmithing to product and lighting. Until 12 December.

For classical music aficionados, concert Vienna: A New Era explores the boundaries of musical expression in early twentieth-century Vienna. Enjoy some of the masterpieces written at this turning point in European cultural history. In Bozar, on 24 & 25 October.

To mark the centenary of SNCB-NMBS, Train World museum in Schaerbeek presents Fashion & Trains, an exhibition exploring the fascinating world of fashion and rail travel since 1835 to the present day.

This autumn, Bozar hosts a major retrospective of the painter Jean Brusselmans, the first comprehensive exhibition of his work since 1980. Through some 120 works, the exhibition introduces visitors to the remarkable oeuvre of a still underappreciated Belgian artist.

Also at Bozar, William Kentridge’s solo exhibition I am not me, the horse is not mine, offers a comprehensive overview of his oeuvre from the early 1980s to the present day.

A new contemporary art center just opened its doors. Atoma Art Center transforms the former factory of the iconic Atoma notebooks into a 5,000 m² art center entirely dedicated to the creation, production and dissemination of current artistic practices.

Brussels automobile museum Autoworld is turning 40 this year! Car enthusiasts can take part in the festivities through the anniversary exhibition Looking Back to the Future and a special event on the Cinquantenaire esplanade.

Autumn tip: Art Nouveau Pass

Worth to know 👉 You can explore the gems of Brussels’ Art Nouveau with one easy and affordable package from Brussels Museums. The 9-month pass allows you to visit 3 Art Nouveau interiors and/​or exhibitions of your choice, and enjoy various discounts across the city. Discover more

From our website

Brussels Expo Tips: This autumn, Harry Potter and Tutankhamun live just a stone’s throw apart on the Heysel. Read more in The Boys Who Lived…

In our new Brussels music agenda, you can find concerts, festivals and open-air parties throughout October.

Something from our archives for the museum aficionados – Small Museums, Big Stories: Constantin Meunier Museum

EU Quarter tips:

Did you know that the European Parliament hosts a permanent art exhibition displaying pieces by contemporary artists from across the EU, celebrating the motto ‘United in Diversity’. Visitors can now explore this unique collection thanks to occasional guided tours in the Parliament’s premises. Check the upcoming tours.

The new season of film screenings is continuing at Info Hub of the European Parliament until the end of the year. Full agenda here. Free entrance. No reservation required. Seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Temporary expo: Postcolonial? at House of European History features unique artworks, historical objects and personal stories, leading the visitors throughout the much-needed European reckoning with colonialism. Entrance is free.

Community agenda:

• The Bridge Theatre is back with its new production: Copenhagen is Michael Frayn’s multi-award-winning play about friendship, duty, and the choices that can change the world. From 15 October – 6 November.
• Brussels Retail Tour: Join a full day guided tour on 9 October to uncover retail trends and inspirations of our capital.
• Association Femmes d’Europe, with the support of the Embassy of Ireland in Belgium, organises Gala Charity concert in Bozar on 27 October, featuring internationally acclaimed Irish tenor Emmet Cahill, uilleann piper Mark Redmond, the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra and Brussels Philharmonic Chorus.
• Brussels Diwali Festival celebrates its tenth edition on 24 & 25 October. Two-day celebration of the Indian festival of lights, featuring food, culture, dance and music.
• Deutsche Romantik Concert – Romantic music by Mendelssohn, Schumann and Brahms on 18 October. The concert will also feature three solo pieces on Romantic guitar performed by the world renouned Belgian guitarist, Emma Wills.
• Oktoberfest brings the spirit of Bavaria to the Cinquantenaire Park from 14 to 24 October. Expect authentic Spaten Oktoberfestbeer, typical specialities and live music, in a warm, accessible and international setting mixed with legendary Oktoberfest atmosphere.
• The Nine Club: From Muse to Maker – Women Driving the Plot on 12 October. Check the full October agenda for more events.
• Full Circle: From book club and concerts to interesting talks, check this month’s programme.
• Social Media Video Workshop on 17 & 18 October. Two practical days to learn how to create better videos with your phone: from storytelling and filming to interviews, sound and editing. 📱🎬

Around Belgium: Stories you might have missed

• 5 lambic breweries and blenders near Brussels to discover this October
• Teleworking has become part of the norm in the Belgian capital with half of all Brussels workers and commuters working from home.
• Ghent Design Museum reopens after €21 million renovation
• The European Best Bar platform has recognised five Belgian venues in its list of Europe’s top 10 bars, including two in the top three
• Brussels Airport begins €25 million renovation of passenger boarding bridges at Pier A
• France remains Belgians’ favourite foreign destination with 31.2 million trips in 2025

Last call: Get your free copy of our magazine

Have you grabbed the new edition of our print publication? Most copies are already gone but we restocked a few more at Bouche coffee Saint Gery and at Jackie Coffee, in case you missed to get your hands on it. Perfect for the autumn days and filled with inspiration from across the city.

Also happening:

• One Upon a Time: A fairy-tale theatrical walk through the forest of La Hulpe. From 17 October through 8 November.
• Tutankhamun – The Immersive Exhibition at Brussels Expo. The award-winning, globe-trotting spectacle that has drawn over 2.5 million visitors worldwide, invites you to step inside the world of ancient Egypt and its mythical pharaoh.
• Expo Lost and Found – Japanese Photography. Until 20 December, the exhibition Lost and Found explores the themes of memory, catastrophe, disappearance, and renewal in Japanese photography through a selection of works from the collections of the Fondation A.
• Horta Museum presents the exhibition Art Nouveau versus Art Deco? 1850–1950: A Century in 31 Seats. Featuring thirty chairs by leading designers, from Victor Horta and Henry van de Velde to Le Corbusier and Marcel Breuer, the expo offers insight into a century of transformation in design and architecture in the Western world. Until 2027.
• Jeppe Hein: Reflections on Breathing at Vanhaerents Art Collection. The Danish artist’s first major Brussels exhibition brings together three iconic works: Breathe With Me, Modified Social Benches and Rotating Mirrors – an immersive encounter with mindfulness, connection and collective presence. The Vanhaerents warehouse in the city centre is one of Brussels’ finest private collection spaces. Until 31 Dec.
• The Fashion and Lace Museum brings Simplicities, a fascinating exhibition that explores how fashion, long before contemporary minimalism, already sought purity of lines, freedom of the body and a certain idea of ​​simplicity.
• Val Saint-Lambert & Design at Design Museum Brussels. The rich creative history of Belgium’s legendary crystal glassworks, with particular focus on the dialogue between craft and design from Expo 58 through the early 2000s.

We hope you are enjoying our monthly agenda! We pull together the most interesting local events, mixed with inspiring stories & tips so you can make the most of Brussels. Help us keep the good stuff coming by forwarding this along to your friends and colleagues in Brussels. Let’s share the good vibes. 🫶