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Culture · Brussels
Every two years, in mid‑August, the ground of Brussels’ Grand-Place is covered with a carpet of begonias and dahlias featuring a different design each edition, which remains in place for about four days.
In the photo: Brussels
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
Click a photo to enlarge it.
Brussels Flower Carpet — Brussels
Every two years, in even-numbered years, for about four days over the long weekend around August 15.
August · every two years
Dates change every year: check this year's date before you travel.
The festival
The first flower carpet on the Grand-Place was created in 1971 by landscaper Étienne Stautemas, a begonia enthusiast. Since 1986, every two years around the Feast of the Assumption on August 15, the square receives a carpet with a new design that pays tribute to a theme, a region or a country.
Preparation takes months: the design is drawn full‑size and the flowers — mainly begonias grown in the Ghent region, and more recently also dahlias — are fitted one by one by volunteers in a few hours on the central area of the square. When finished, the carpet covers almost the entire center of the Grand-Place, surrounded by the gilded facades of the guildhalls and the Town Hall.
The carpet can be seen from the square itself at ground level. From the Town Hall balcony, with a ticket, you get an overhead view that shows the whole design. At night there are light-and-sound shows projected onto the carpet.
In odd-numbered years in August, the city usually organizes Flowertime, a floral exhibition inside the Town Hall and on the square, so visitors in August don’t find the Grand-Place without flowers.
The view of the carpet from the Town Hall balcony. The nighttime light-and-sound show. The carpet being assembled on the morning of the first day.
Visit early or late in the afternoon to avoid the busiest hours. The Grand-Place is a few minutes’ walk from Brussels-Central station. There is a queue and set times for the Town Hall balcony; check the official website. Remember the carpet exists only in even years.
The Feast of the Assumption on August 15 is a national holiday and the city fills up; book accommodation near the square well in advance. Tickets for the Town Hall balcony are sold on the official website.
In the city
Flavors of Belgium
Rectangular waffle, light and crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, served dusted with confectioners' sugar. It is the first specialty presented by Brussels official tourism and appears in Flemish paintings related to celebrations.
Chocolate bonbon with a soft filling, such as ganache, praliné or cream. According to the inventory of intangible heritage of Brussels, the first modern praline was created in 1912 by Jean Neuhaus Jr. in the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert; the protective box, the ballotin, appeared three years later.
August
AugustOn the weekend of the fourth Sunday in August, from Friday to Monday.
On the weekend of the fourth Sunday in August, Ath celebrates its ducasse with the wedding of the giant Goliath, David’s fight against Goliath on the Grand-Place, and the procession of the giants through the streets.
AugustAround August 15, the Assumption feast; the main day is August 15 and the closing is August 16.
Around August 15, the Outremeuse neighborhood in Liège celebrates the Assumption with a procession of the Black Virgin, a Mass in Walloon, a giants’ parade, concerts and lots of péket, culminating in the symbolic burial of Matî l'Ohê.
AugustIn mid or late August, over four days from Thursday to Sunday.
Pukkelpop brings together rock, alternative, electronic and hip‑hop across several stages set on fields and woodlands in Kiewit, north of Hasselt, in August.
Your questions
Every two years, in even-numbered years, for about four days around August 15 at the Grand-Place.
From the Town Hall balcony on the Grand-Place, which gives an overhead view of the entire design. Access to the balcony requires a ticket; from the square the carpet can be viewed at ground level.
No. It is assembled every two years in even-numbered years. In odd-numbered years in August the Flowertime floral exhibition usually takes place at the Town Hall.
Festivals and events in Belgium
February/MarchFrom Carnival Sunday to Shrove Tuesday, the three days before Ash Wednesday, in February or March depending on the date of Easter.
The Binche carnival, in the province of Hainaut, culminates on Shrove Tuesday with the Gilles, figures wearing wax masks and ostrich-feather hats who dance through the streets to the sound of drums and throw oranges to the crowd.
February/MarchFrom Saturday to midnight on Fat Tuesday, before the start of Lent, in February or March, depending on the date of Easter.
The Cwarmê is Malmedy’s carnival, in the Ardennes: four days when masked figures such as the Haguètes take to the streets, everything is spoken and sung in Walloon, up to the burning of the Haguète on the final night.
March/AprilOn Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent, three weeks before Easter, in March or early April; from Saturday to Monday.
Three weeks before Easter, Stavelot celebrates Laetare with the Blancs Moussis, figures dressed in white with long red-nosed masks who go through the town throwing confetti at the crowd.
May/JuneOn the weekend of the Holy Trinity, the Sunday after Pentecost, between May and June, depending on the date of Easter.
On Trinity weekend, Mons carries the relic of Saint Waltrude on a gilded carriage through the streets and stages the Lumeçon, Saint George’s fight with the dragon, on the Grand-Place.
MayEvery three years, on the second Sunday in May. · Every three years
Every three years, on the second Sunday in May, Ypres celebrates cats with the Kattenstoet, a parade of floats, giants and costumes that culminates with the town jester throwing stuffed cats from the Lakenhalle bell tower.
May/JuneOn Ascension Day, a Thursday forty days after Easter, in May or early June.
On Ascension Day, the relic of the Holy Blood is carried out of the basilica on Burg Square and processes through Bruges’ medieval centre in a parade with biblical scenes, singing, music and horses, an intangible UNESCO heritage event.