One of my favorite summer festivals in Belgium! Involves a few different stages in the center of…read moreBrussels (next to Central Station, MIM and the palace by Parc metro station). I love that the event lasts for 10 days, so when you live in the city, you can really get the most out of your ticket, stopping by each evening, if you wish! BSF gets some big names (my favorite was Amy Macdonald last year) both internationally and locally. This festival includes upcoming artists as well in smaller stages, which is fun to see close up. For about 50 eur pp for the 10 day pass, this festival is definitely worth it, even if you just want to go a couple times. Along with your ticket/wristband, you can also visit a few museums for free/reduced price during the 10 days that BSF takes place!

This is a unique gathering of some of Belgium's finest restaurateurs. Culinaria offers visitors the…read morechance to sample their mouthwatering creations within the confines of Tour & Taxi's large exhibit hall. Most of us will find it hard to try more than a few of the country's best tables every year, so this may well be the right place to help you decide where you want to enjoy your next dining experience. Entry tickets are not cheap, count around 75 euros depending on which package you go for, but generally speaking the price is correct if you consider you'd be paying 10 to 20 euros per dish if you were to book a table at any of these establishments. This year saw some handy improvement to the organizational side of things which definitely made proceedings easier. The choice of two menu's determined ahead of time while booking was a smart move allowing for chef's to come up with more audacious dishes than preceding years - it helps to know how many you are catering for, compared to the random pick of visitors years prior. So unless you are a lone diner, you could take one of each of the two menus on offer and get to try everything. This included a welcome beer and some nibbles, a 'mise en bouche', five dishes, two desserts and an accompanying glass of wine per dish. For a little extra you could enjoy an intermediary cheese platter, even if I find you have enough food without. For an all-out VIP experience you can add the champagne bar and VIP lounge area, but if you expect to be able to walk straight this may again be an unnecessary extra. In a world where Michelin Chefs become superstars, it is a feature of Culinaria to find most of these 'celebrities' manning the stands and putting the final touches on dishes. Usually friendly and chatty, it is great to be able to interact with these modern food heroes. There is more than just Michelin star food, get the most from Culinaria by taking a cooking masterclass (these are spread out over the day with different chefs and presentations). You'll also be able to shop from the food market which is full of high-end food products, from truffles to saffron infused concuctions, you'll probably find one or two intricacies to take home. Full marks for Cuilnaria and its star chefs. This has become a very well-organized event that allows foodies to sample dishes from the lands best restaurants. Well worth treating yourself.

My #1 favorite music festival in Belgium! I love the atmosphere, you really get a great mix of…read morepeople, both young and old. This festival tends to be at the beginning of the festival season in Belgium, at the end of June for 3 days over a weekend, when the exams end (for students, that is). The music is a mix of world, pop, rock and alternative. The venue is at Tour & Taxis, which is somewhat remote in Brussels, but still about a 10 min walk from Belgica metro stop and about 15 min or so from Brussel Noord train station. There are a few different stages at the festival, which offer a number of different artists performing at any time. Drinks are reasonable at the festival--cool thing is, if you collect enough cups (I think it's like 50 or some crazy high number like that) and return them, you get a free drink. If you see younger (read: students) people carrying around a tower of cups, that's what it's for. Great idea to keep the festival a bit cleaner by rewarding those that are willing to pick up the trash! But it only works so much... There's also a pretty cool market/vendor area where they sell more crafty kinds of things, cool to check out. You buy drinks based on a token system (buy tokens to pay for your drinks). Note: best to buy all the tokens you need at the beginning of the festival to avoid lines later on....also, water is free by the public toilets (they don't make you pay to use the bathroom!!!) if you bring an empty water bottle with you. Now, food! OMG I think this is my favorite festival just for the food alone! They offer a crazy variety of food in one of the huge covered buildings on the premise. I've seen anything from various African, Asian, South American foods to even bugs (granted, it was 1 stall, but still cool they offer it for people to try out!) You really can find any possible food here for reasonable prices! Another cool thing about this festival, they offer buses as transportation to get you back home safely after you've had too much to drink. I believe this follows the Notis routes and is included in the price of the ticket! A couple of things to note: Don't drive there! Traffic is terrible and as I mentioned above, your ticket includes free transportation. If you must take your car, then drive to a metro station in more the outskirts of Brussels, take the metro there, then the bus back. Although a very family-friendly festival, there still is a lot of people smoking pot. I don't partake but still leave feeling a second-hand high....but that's the only "drug" use I've seen at the festival. I'm really not doing this Couleur Cafe justice in my review, so just check it out for either 1 evening or the whole weekend!

I love this annual event! I went for the first time last year and actually volunteered (I was paid,…read moreso not real volunteering, got a free ticket and a shirt as well!) I love that for 1 Saturday a year (usually in February) quite a number of museums are open until midnight, with an afterparty following. Here's a quick list of all the (normally) participating museums: Jewish Museum of Belgium, Museum of Costume and Lace, Museum of the City of Brussels, Museum of Letters and Manuscripts in Brussels, La Monnaie, Belgian Comic Strip Center, Cinematek, Centre for Fine Arts (BOZAR), Musical Instruments Museum (mim), Palace of Charles de Lorraine (Royal Library of Belgium), BIP - Brussels Info Place, ING Cultural Center, BELvue Museum, Coudenberg - Former Palace of Brussels, Charlier Museum, Le Botanique, art & marges museum, Wiels, Museum of Fantastic Art (MAF), Royal Museum of the Armed Forces, Autoworld, Parlamentarium, Museum of Natural Sciences, Ixelles Museum. Throughout the evening there are various events (tours, displays, etc.) scheduled at the museums and there are continuous shuttle buses to transport you from museum to museum. Very well organized and fun to visit a museum after (normal) hours! Also great for families, if the kids can stay up late enough! Bonus: you get a free entry to visit any of the above mentioned museums within a few weeks of Museum Night Fever! Be on the lookout for this event each February!