Annual favourites such as the free concerts on numerous city squares, the summer bar with palm trees, cocktails and sandy beach, the late-night sessions with DJs and urban cinema at the Scheldt will naturally return.
This year’s programme is also filled with some astonishing acts that will keep you entertained until the wee hours, which is the perfect moment to retire to the Nulsterren Pension, a low-cost, highly valued bed and breakfast created especially for the summer festival in the swanky Zurenborg neighbourhood. The Tower Sessions, for example, housed in a huge wooden tower reminiscent of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, should definitely be on your to do/see list.
The Tower Sessions offer stand-up comedy and concerts in a unique location for the humble price of €2. Out of the hundreds of events, don’t miss these highlights.
Looking like something out of a Jules Verne novel, the Aeroflorale airship (pictured) has been chartered by the La Machine company and travels the world looking for rare plants. This turnof- the-century contraption filled with scientists lands on 1 July in Antwerp, where they’ll start investigating the appearance of Helianthus annuus (aka sunflowers) that seem to pop up in the centre of Antwerp each year. Quirky yet breathtakingly beautiful, they’ll be lavishing us with botanical facts and exotic tales.
Theatre companies Froe Froe and De Roovers join forces for an open-air spectacle that mixes dolls with actors. In this engaging story, two brothers fall in love with the same girl and try to win her heart through music. Sumptuous, burlesque and a tad macabre.
Have you ever been to a fancy party and didn’t know what to wear? Which fork to use first? At a total loss when they start playing the rumba? The Swedish Poste Restante has found the answer: The Dinner Club, a series of sophisticated workshops teaching you the ins and outs of contemporary etiquette, after which you get a chance to test your latest tricks at and elegant three-course dinner, followed by a little dancing.
Hector Mann is living the dream: a gorgeous wife, two kids, big house and manager of the Fizzy Pop Lemonade factory. But one day he accidentally drinks a potion that makes him invisible to everyone (except the audience). Theatre group SkaGen is making an old-fashioned, slapstick movie that will be shot in front of a live audience in a converted truck full of wildly gesticulating actors, an overenthusiastic pianist and even special effects.
The Zomer van Antwerpen wouldn’t be complete with a circus or two. In Pfffffff seven men compete for the love of one lucky young lady. In this very funny spectacle, they each try to outdo the other with bigger and bolder stunts. Non-stop stunts, live music and an electrifying beat-box duel.
Parties, concerts, movies and the Botanical Expedition are free, but you have to order tickets for the rest. Don’t dawdle; performances during Zomer in Antwerpen sell like hotcakes.
Across Antwerp
www.zva.be
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