The Belgian national holiday is around the corner again
It’s almost 21 July, which means preparations for the Belgian national holiday are in full swing.
As per tradition, you can expect a Te Deum celebration in the cathedral of St Michael and St Gudula, an impressive military parade before the King, and fireworks to finish the national holiday in style, but that’s not all. All sorts of fun things including a laser show are planned in the Parc du Cinquantenaire.
Around the royal quarter, all kinds of institutions will be putting their best foot forward at a myriad of stalls, with structures like B-FAST (the Belgian First Aid and Support Team) and the Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, which has all kinds of fun activities planned in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to which Belgium is strongly committed. The Smurfs will be present to raise awareness among young and old about a sustainable world.
For those who want to party, it’s no secret that the national holiday actually kicks off properly on the prior evening, with the Bal National on Place du Jeu de Balle, one of Brussels’ most famous squares.
Why is the Belgian national holiday celebrated on 21 July, we hear you wonder? It is not to commemorate the Belgian independence, which was the result of the Belgian Revolution of 1830, but rather the day that Leopold I, the first King of the Belgians, took the constitutional oath in 1831.
You can find out more information about the programme here in French or in Dutch.