For the 22nd time, Couleur Café will demonstrate that it is Brussels’ hottest music festival. The old customs depot at the Tour & Taxis site will be transformed into a “tropical urban village”, where the stars of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean will set the crowd of 70,000 on fire.

Next to African superstars like Tiken Jah Fakoly and Seun Kuty, reggae artists Ziggy Marley and Alborosie, the festival also features the English soul singer Seal and popular Flemish bands like Selah Sue and Absynthe Minded.

“We feature world music, but, as the Belgian artist Roland always says: ‘World music is music from all over the world’, including artists from the Balkans or rock bands from Belgium,” says Irene Rossi of ZigZag, the non-profit organisation behind the festival. “But we try to stay close to where we started: the music we discovered in African cities, true blends of African roots with Western influences. The music is very urban, which has become so important.”

Patrick Wallens, who founded the festival back in 1989, agrees: “It’s an urban festival with music from a mix of cultures. You come across music that is being played in all metropolitan cities: New York, Kinshasa or Brussels.”

Wallens strongly recommends seeing the festival’s Congotronics vs Rockers. A few years ago, Congolese artists in the suburbs of Kinshasa developed a new style of music that mixes traditional sounds with dance music rhythms. It was picked up by European and American indie artists, who last year released a tribute album to the new African style. Now the Congotronics perform with the westerners on the same stage.

Band of Gypsies 2, meanwhile, presents quite a different cultural clash: Balkan. For their 20th anniversary, the Romanian band Taraf de Haïdouks invited the Macedonian brass band Koçani Orkestar to form one big band. The first band is Christian, the second is Muslim. They do not speak each other’s language, nor do they have the same traditions or lifestyles. The 26-member band has now been booked around the world.

Couleur Café also focuses on the bigger picture. During the festival, an exhibition at the Art Café features the work of 16 artists from all over the world investigating the mysteries surrounding religions in different cultures. Next to that, several NGOs present their campaigns in the Solidarity Village. “It’s always our intention to present more than music,” says Rossi. “We want to offer an overwhelming experience in beautiful surroundings. We want people to come in and feel completely at ease.”

Couleur Café offers “zen” camping for those who live outside of Brussels. Local residents can take special Couleur Café night buses to every corner of the capital or use their ticket to get free access to Brussels’ public transport network. NMBS is offering a 50% discount on the train from anywhere in Belgium to Brussels and back

24-26 June
Tour & Taxis
Havenlaan 86, Brussels
www.couleurcafe.be