Flemish festival fever

As Glastonbury slowly smoulders out, Flanders starts to warm up to a whole programme of concerts this summer. Some top billing international acts are set to perform in various rock/pop and jazz concerts all over the region. One of the most famous of the acts include Rock Werchter which is set to kick off at the beginning of July, include stars such as Mika, Duffy, KT Tunstall and Babyshambles to name just a few.

Look out for the Sugar Babes in Marktrock in August and not forgetting the major jazz festival at the Ghent Festivities in mid-July.

Easy accessibility via excellent transport links makes a visit to Belgium an affordable alternative to witness some excellent live music. Here’s a round up of what to expect this summer:

Rock and Pop Festivals:

Rock Werchter
July 2nd - 5th 2008
Werchter, festival grounds near Leuven
This festival brings together the best of various Visitors can expect to hear a broad range of genres, a selection of all-time favourites as well as the sounds of young, new talent. In short, the best of what has been and what is still to come. Mika, Duffy , KT Tunstall and Babyshambles are some of the big name acts perfoming.

Rockwerchter.be

BeLEUVENissen
Friday July 4th, 11th, 18th and 25th 2008
Leuven, city centre
This year the City of Leuven is organizing the ‘BeLEUVENissen’ free music festival for the twentieth time. It is staged in seven open-air locations in the historic heart of Leuven: Every Friday evening from 8.30 to midnight, the festival focuses on a different genre such as jazz & blues, folk, tropical or 'special' music. And every year it brings thousands of people of all ages flocking to the city including an ever-increasing number of foreign visitors.

Beleuvenissen.be

Cactus Festival
July 11th - 13th 2008
Bruges, Minnewaterpark
Rock, reggae, rap, roots, rai and r & b roll amiably across Bruges’ magical Minnewaterpark.
A festival of human proportions, where there is also space off-stage for musicians, professional ambience builders and brewers, children’s entertainment and a range of catering outlets on which the whole world converges...

Cactusmusic.be

Suikerrock
July 25th - 27th 2008
Tienen, streets and squares in the town centre
Suikerrock was first held in 1987. What was then a small, free, one-day event has since grown into the most important city festival in the country. During the course of three days, well-known names and upcoming talent from popular genres such as pop, rock and r&b perform on the festival's two stages, with the magnificent historic centre of Tienen as the backdrop. Over the last 21 years the festival has attracted the cream of the Belgian music scene, along with an impressive list of top international artists like Eddie Grant and The Sisters of Mercy.

Suikerrock.be

Marktrock Leuven
August 8th, 9th and 10th 2008
Leuven, Ladeuzeplein and Oude Markt
In 2007 Marktrock (Market Rock) introduced a new approach and a new style to mark its 25th birthday! For three whole days big national and international pop, rock and hip-hop acts are programmed on two large stages in Leuven's historic centre. This year look out for the Sugar Babes. This is a festival with something for everyone and, as you might expect in a university town, the atmosphere is fun and relaxed.

Marktrock.be

Pukkelpop
August 14th - 16th 2008
Hasselt, Kiewit festival ground
Internationally recognized as a trendsetter among the music festivals, Pukkelpop is a three-day alternative music extravaganza staged in the open air. With a nose for the best from the underground, Pukkelpop serves up the most progressive, contemporary, alternative or simply noteworthy music of today and tomorrow on several different stages over a three-day period! Look out for the Manic Street Preachers, Roisin Murphy and The Killers.

Pukkelpop.be

Maanrock (Moon Rock)
August 23rd and 24th 2008
Mechelen, four different podia: Grote Markt, IJzerenleen, Botermarkt and Vismarkt
In the main, this free pop and rock festival caters for young people on the Saturday and for families on the Sunday.

Maanrock.be

Lokeren Festivities
August 1st - 10th 2008
Lokeren, Grote Kaai
Thirty-four years ago a handful of people in Lokeren decided that it was too quiet during the summer holiday period. What began as a small-scale, four-day festival of three youth clubs with 300 visitors has grown and grown so that it is now a well-established city festival lasting ten full days. You can sample all the styles - rock, pop, AOR, Dutch-language, hip hop, techno and world music - on one main stage whilst soaking up the convivial atmosphere.

Lokersefeesten.be

Jazz and Blues:

Belgium Rhythm ’n’ Blues Festival
July 11th - 13th 2008
Peer, festival grounds
This leading – indeed legendary – blues festival is celebrating its twenty-fourth birthday this year. In the past numerous national and international blues celebrities have appeared on the stage in Peer in Limburg to perform in this mix of blues, soul, gospel and roots music.

Brbf.be

Blue Note Records Festival
July 10th – 20th 2008
Ghent, De Bijloke Music Centre
You can spend ten days listening to the latest sounds of mainstream jazz and avant-garde jazz on the historic site of Ghent’s Bijloke abbey founded in the thirteenth century.

Bluenoterecordsfestival.be

Brosella Folk & Jazz
July 12th and 13th 2008
Brussels, Groentheater (close to the Atomium)
In a nutshell, Brosella is one big party! Who could resist the draw of this absolutely free festival, staged in a park at the foot of the nine spheres of the Atomium! Jazz, folk and other summer sounds ring out from the main stage. In the evenings fans hang out under the Chinese lanterns. Children are not forgotten either: there are numerous activities for all age groups.

Brosella.be

10 Days Off
July 18th - 27th 2008
Ghent, KC Vooruit
10 Days Off is Flanders' most important extended indoor electronic music festival. Timed to coincide with the Ghent Festivities and staged at the KC Vooruit, the line-up for 10 Days Off includes club music by established names and upcoming talent performing virtually every sound you might expect to hear in clubs around the world today: techno, house, electro, breakbeats, 80's rock, drum 'n' bass, grooves, hip-hop ... you name it!

10daysoff.be

Jazz Brugge
October 2nd – 5th 2008
Bruges, Concertgebouw and Groeninge Museum
The biennial festival Jazz Brugge occupies a unique place among Flanders’ other jazz festivals. Jazz Brugge concentrates exclusively on European bands in a bid to help engineer the development of a European jazz scene. The event is stimulating and trendsetting. Nowhere else is so much jazz expression and emotion packed into a single festival, with four lunch-time concerts performed against the backdrop of the Flemish expressionists in the Groeninge Museum, four piano concerts in the Concertgebouw’s Chamber Music Hall and eleven evening concerts in its Concert Hall. There are also jam sessions after the concerts, films and videos, stalls selling food and drink and a guaranteed convivial atmosphere throughout the Concertgebouw.

Jazzbrugge.be and Museabrugge.be

Audi Jazz Festival
Autumn 2008
Brussels
This festival is a major event on Europe's jazz calendar. Though jazz holds the spotlight, other musical genres are also well represented, from blues and flamenco through avant-gardist music to hip-hop.

Audijazz.be