The activities include: different concerts, live art, events on terraces, cinema under the stars, events in museums, ‘carte blanche’ for festivals, theatre for children, and many more.

These events will be taking place at various locations in Brussels (Laeken, Neder-Over-Heembeek, Square Ambiorix, the esplanade of the Cité Administrative at the Congress Column, the Vaux-Hall at the Brussels Park,…).

Until August 30, there will be plenty of choice to celebrate the Brussels summer together! You can find all the necessary details on their website.

Enjoy and don’t forget to be careful and wear your mask.

The post Which ‘Hello Summer’ activities will you check-out? appeared first on Brussels Express.

Starting from November 1, parking fines received within the city of Brussels, will be received directly at home.  This initiative aims at reducing the number of parking fines which issued but then get lost.

Therefore, even if you have parked badly, you won’t be seeing a parking ticket on your windshield when you’re back. Instead the parking will be sent directly to the person’s home.

This method was already in use by ‘scanning vehicles’, which would scan the area and send an invitation to pay the parking fine directly at the domicile.

The post Major change: Brussels City no longer leaving parking tickets on windshields appeared first on Brussels Express.

The post Do you know these secret streets in Brussels? appeared first on Brussels Express.

The commune of Ixelles had even received a petition asking to distribute contraceptive seeds to pigeons. The petition titled Petition for Ethical Regulation of Pigeons/Feeding Card was launched by Stéphanie De Jonghe and addressed to Yves Rouyet, the alderman of the municipality of Ixelles.

Now the City of Brussels will distribute contraceptive seeds in Laeken to fight against the proliferation of pigeons. It has been reported that the contraceptive seeds will be distributed in Clémentine Square for two years. An amount of 6,000 has been put aside for this project.

« There is a population of 250 pigeons that is regularly fed and comes every day, and we are going to place a feeder with contraceptive seeds, » stated the animal welfare coordinator Zoubida Jellab (Ecolo).

The post Laeken commune fights against the proliferation of pigeons appeared first on Brussels Express.

This year’s trend in online posting is for greater authenticity and the popularity of walls doesn’t appear to be going away. A colourful corrugated iron barrier or bit of graffiti behind you (or your product) looks attractive and has the added advantage of giving off a fun, unpretentious vibe.

Want to try it out? Now is a great time to do it. September light is gentler than the harsh contrasts of summer and Brussels is full of amazing graffiti and throw-ups. Some of them are part of the Comic Strip Walk. Others have gone up in for the 450^th anniversary of Breugel’s death.

Here’s a ‘leg-up’ to seven of Brussels’s most instagrammable walls:

1.Rue Blaes – in the heart of the vintage and antique district. This area is chock full of great graffiti and pleasing brickwork. The trouble is, the streets are so narrow it’s hard to get far enough away for a good shot, but Rue Blaes offers the double whammy of colourful street art and an old Bovril advert for your delectation.

2. Villa Empain – This stunning Art Deco mansion built in 1930 by Baron Louis Empain has a chequered past, including Nazi occupation. But as the home of the Boghossian Foundation it is finally fulfilling Empain’s philanthropic dream again now. Materials include marble, bronze, granite, wood and some interior walls are sumptuously papered. The real treasure though is out back, where the elegant symmetry of the swimming pool will make you feel you’ve dropped into a Hopper painting.

3. The courtyard of O Lion D’Or – A refurbished trading inn on Place Saint Géry boasting a courtyard where you can see the buried river Senne and its reconstructed quayside. The red brick walls are a gift and its peace and quiet means you should not have to fight off other wall aficionados.

4. Rue Notre Seigneur 29-31 – For the 450^th anniversary of Breugel’s death, the HELL’O Collective (an artistic duo composed of Jerôme Meynen and Antoine Detaille) created ‘Patience’, isolating elements of Breugel’s Patientia into geometric forms.

5. The restaurant of the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) is free to access and offers fantastic views across the city through quintessentially curlicue Art Nouveau windows. Plan your visit to avoid peak mealtimes if you’re going to attempt this more technical photography challenge into the light.

6. Quai des Péniches. Along the banks of the canal, street art originating from the Kosmopolite Art Tour continues to give colourful new life to this part of the city. When visiting this part of town, don’t miss the old Citroen building at Yser.

7. The Horta Gallery in Brussels’s Gare Centrale was designed by Victor Horta but not built until after his death. Closed for 20 years from the 1980s, it is now open again and features walls lit by Lux Lumen. Visit when the space hosts the C12 nightclub for the optimum backlit wall photo opp.

The post Hidden Gems: Seven Instagrammable Walls of Brussels appeared first on Brussels Express.

Only urgent services, vehicles of public interest and persons with a pass can circulate in the zones where car traffic is forbidden.

A pass can be delivered to individuals from 12 August 2019 to 13 September 2019 (at 12 am), for companies from 1 August 2019 to 13 September 2019 (at 12 am). Attention, this demand of dispensation must be duly motivated.

When is the Region ‘closed’?

Between 9.30am and 7pm. The closing and the re-opening of the entrances to the Region and the tunnels will happen gradually. Therefore, there might be some traffic nuisance outside these times. As a result of the activities and celebrations, the streets in certain neighbourhoods might also be closed longer. So it is no use hurrying to the entrances to Brussels; this to avoid congestion and safety problems.

 

What about public transport?

The STIB and The Lijn willen provide free public transport! The service level will be reviewed with a considerable reinforcement on most of metro, tram and bus lines.

Who is still allowed to drive around town?

Car Free Sunday applies to everyone, except for public transport, taxis, buses, emergency and security forces, provided with a legitimation, as well as for the diplomatic corps. The maximum speed is limited up to 30km/h everywhere.

Check out all the activities taking place during Brussels Mobility Week.

The post Car Free Sunday in Brussels on September 22 appeared first on Brussels Express.

In the current state of things, tax payers are submitted to a steady annual tax, which doesn’t take into account the way people use their cars. The new tax should factor in the time at which the driver uses their car, as well as the type of car that they drive.

A set of cameras that are already implemented in the low emission zone (LEZ) will serve as a means of control. Subsequently, a question arises: will the zone be limited to the region in its entirety? It could eventually be restricted to the Pentagon or the European quarter.

Ideally, this plan should follow suit in a period of 5 years in Brussels, according to Elke Van den Brandt. As of July, the initiative had been proposed in the declaration of policy for the Brussels region.

The post Minister of Mobility proposes new intelligent kilometer tax in Brussels appeared first on Brussels Express.

These 26 streets are mainly located in the city center, near the Grand Place. Moreover, areas near the major stations such as Central. Midi and North Station are also included. The list includes several parks as well.

You may be charged up to a 200 Euro fines for parking a shared bike in any of these streets for more than 24 hours.  For those who ride shared scooters and violate these regulations, they might even loose their license.

The map below shows the sidewalks in Brussels on which it is prohibited to park shared scooters and bicycles.

The post Map of prohibited parking areas for scooters and bicycles in Brussels appeared first on Brussels Express.

However they seem to have reached capacity as new WiFi spots are to be expected. The aim is to offer better service to both residents and tourists.

wifi.brussels currently has more than 145,000 secure connections per day (6,568,726 per month) via many access points.

Out of these current 221 spots, 109 are located in interior areas, such as libraries and even metro and pre-metro stations of the STIB. The most active spots being Gare du Midi, Arts-Loi, De Brouckère and of course Grand Place.

« The majority agreement of the Brussels government confirms its willingness to extend the wifi.brussels network. «  states Bernard Clerfayt (DéFI), Minister in charge of Digital Transition. « These spots are a real success and it contributes to the image of Brussels as a modern city. »

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Just a few steps from Place Flagey and housed in one of Brussels’s modest flat-iron buildings on the corner of Malibran and Scarron, is a beer-lover’s paradise. Since opening in 2012, the Malting Pot has been offering customers over 200 different craft beers, all selected for flavour, originality and quality ingredients.

The premises manage to be cosy and airy at the same time. Stepping into the small establishment, you’ll see simple wooden shelves stocked with attractive bottles and cans of beer you’re unlikely to find anywhere else in Brussels. IPAs, sours, gueuzes, stouts, ales, bitters – these beers come from all over the world. The quirky labels catching your eye are just as artisanal as the beers themselves. Each beer is carefully chosen and the stock is reviewed regularly, meaning there are often new discoveries to be made before they hit the shelves anywhere else.

The counter has the feel of a pop-up bar. The owner, originally from Tehran, studied archaeology and wrote his thesis on the history of beer from Mesopotamia. He’d always dreamt of running a bar or beer store, and after two years working in an unrelated field, he’d saved enough to open a shop and share his passion with the buying public.  If you’re unsure about committing to a bottle of the UK’s Buxton Trolltunga Gooseberry Sour, or you can’t read the Swedish information on the can of Poppel’s Fruit Ale, he will be delighted to give you the low-down on flavour profiles and production methods.

‘I was doubtful when I saw Strawberry Daiquiri on the label,’ he might say. ‘But when I tasted it, it was tangy and not overly sweet. They add real strawberry pulp.’

Need a recommendation of a stout for your carbonnade recipe? This is the place to come: ‘I’d try this Christmas Ale. It’s deep and a bit spiced, but not too sweet.’

With something for all tastes, it’s tempting to settle down, lean into that counter and make a session of it. ‘Maybe I’ll be able to open a bar in the future,’ says our host. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. Meanwhile, don’t wait for Christmas to treat yourself.

The post Brussels Hidden Gems: the Malting Pot, Ixelles appeared first on Brussels Express.