Youth festival at the Place de la Monnaie

From Friday to Saturday, the festival “Ceci n’est pas un jeune” will be held in Brussels, Place de la Monnaie.

What does youth refer to in our collective psyche? It unfortunately often sounds bad. “When you hear from youth in the media, it is mainly about delinquency and pejorative sides. We therefore aim at hosting a dialogue between youth and the whole society. Young people have things to say and they need to be understood”, Gwendoline Hoven, the festival press officer, said.

This is the reason why the Fédération des Maisons de Jeunes, together with more than 50 foundations and youth organisations, organise the third festival “Ceci n’est pas un jeune” over theboth days. The first edition took place in 2011 in Schaerbeek and brought together about 50 young citizens. After a second edition in 2014, the festival has kept on growing up and several hundreds of young girls and boys, both from Belgium and France, will attend the event. The festival will be hosted by “Les Chapiteaux des Nouveaux Disparus”, which have already set up their tents on the Place de la Monnaie.

“We have provided them with communication channels they are familiar with, so that they could design a message on their own. It is about theatre plays, graffiti, rap etc.”, Gwendoline added. The team then put several young citizens from different neighbourhoods and cities together, and they have built up different artistic or cultural pieces which comply with three themes: identity, citizenship and multiculturalism. If you pop down in Place de La Bourse on Friday and Saturday, you will then have the opportunity to attend rock gigs, dance shows or musicals.

On the other hand, another tent has been set up outside the main one and it will host debates between youth and other citizens. “Everyone is welcome there. We have two goals. We really would like to make a meeting between politicians and youth, as they need to understand each other. And we of course also would like everyone to come and talk about societal issues there”, Gwendoline added. The idea is to break down the walls between two categories which are sometimes unable to talk with each other.

Should you need more information, please visit the website as well as the Facebook page. The entrance is free of charge.