What’s on: Hasselt a hive of activity on Car-free Sunday
The capital of Limburg is the first out of the starting block for Mobility Week celebrations, while deSingel continues its open-air performances and an exceptional Flemish artist
Car-free Sunday
Some places are going ahead with it on 20 September, including Diest, Vilvoorde, Mechelen and Brussels. Hasselt is getting a jump on things and shutting down its city centre to vehicular traffic this Sunday. There are skate workshops, street theatre, concerts, a sustainable market and more. For this 10th anniversary edition, Hasselt is also giving cyclists a chance to win a new bike: Ride along the orange bike route specially created for the event and collect stamps along the way. Turn them in for a chance to win. There are three other bike routes, too, and all of them are open to cyclists for 10 days. (But only on Sunday can you collect the stamps.) Hasselt Car-Free Day 13 September 11.00-18.00
deSingel Outdoor
Antwerp performing arts centre deSingel has launched its autumn programme, and tickets are selling like hotcakes. But its summer garden productions continue into October as well. Warm weather is expected for the foreseeable future, so don’t hesitate to string out your open-air plans with shows by indie rock group The Radar Station, for instance, or Missa Homo Sacer, a choreography for both voices and bodies (pictured). deSingel’s garden is covered, so the show goes on rain or shine. But don’t decide last minute: These tickets go fast as well. Until 4 October, Desguinlei 25
Ben Sledsens: Morning Moon
While Antwerp painter Ben Sledsens often delivers an image of a fairy-tale world we’d be happy to step into, sometimes it’s rather more mysterious – a little disquieting even. Because fairy tales do not end happily for everyone, do they? Check out the alternate universe of this intriguing Antwerp artist whose reinterpretations of landscape bring to mind great masters like Claude Monet and Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Until 10 October, Tim Van Laere Gallery, Jos Smolderenstraat 50, Antwerp
Just as Long as You Are There
When the royal Flemish theatre KVS put out a call for short dance solos, they got 110 responses. But only four local and international dancers were chosen for Just as Long as You Are There, an open-air performance that also includes choreographer Nadine Baboy (pictured), a familiar face at KVS. Five powerful solos in the theatre’s inner garden, with a nod to the famous line from “Dancing in the Street”. 15 & 17 September, Arduinkaai 7
Get tickets now: Glasshouse concert
It’s high season in Flanders’ picturesque grape region, and every year one of the few remaining small businesses growing table grapes hosts classical concerts right in one of its greenhouses. Druiven Mia Michiels has several greenhouses in the traditional style, and the grapes hang ripe and plump overhead. One couldn’t ask for a more lovely or unique setting. The family-run business, now in its fourth generation also has a little shop where you can buy grapes and drinks based on the crop, including Felix gin. To attend one of the concerts, call 023 05 67 59 or email [email protected]. 27 September 11.00 or 13.30, Jezus-Eiksesteenweg 96, Hoeilaart
Photos, from top: ©Inge Delee/Stad Hasselt; ©Annelies Verhelst; courtesy Tim Van Laere Gallery, Antwerp; ©Danny Willems/KVS; ©Jan Van Assche/Hoeilander.be





