Gentse Feesten
Music and theatre festival in Ghent, Belgium From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Music and theatre festival in Ghent, Belgium From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Gentse Feesten (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɣɛntsə ˈfeːstə(n)]; in Ghent dialect Gense Fieste; "Ghent Festival") is an annual music and theatre festival in Ghent, Belgium. Besides stage events, there are street acts such as mimes and buskers. It has been held for more than 50 years (since 1969) and is attended by about 1–1.5 million visitors.
| Gentse Feesten | |
|---|---|
Gentse Feesten, 2014 | |
| Dates | July |
| Location(s) | Ghent, Belgium |
| Coordinates | 51°3′N 3°44′E |
| Years active | 1969–present[lower-alpha 1] |
| Founders | Walter De Buck, Paula Monsart |
| Attendance | 2 million |
| Website | Official site |
The festival starts on the Friday before the third Sunday of July and lasts until and including the fourth Sunday of July. The date originally had no reference to 21 July, Belgian National Day, but that holiday is always included. The festival starts on "the (Fri)day before the Saturday before 21 July" and lasts ten days.
The last day (until recently always a Monday) is known as de dag van de lege portemonnees ("the day of the empty wallets") alluding to the fact that many people have spent their last penny at the festival and is seen by the people of Ghent as "their" day while visitors leave.
The first Gentse Feesten was held in 1843, about 400 people attended. The intensity of the festivities changed throughout the years. The modern Gentse Feesten was started in the summer of 1969 by Ghent singer Walter De Buck and ex-wife Paula Monsart with people from Café Trefpunt.
In the beginning the festival consisted of one stage near the Saint Jacob's Church. Since the late 1980s the festival has grown to now cover the whole inner city of Ghent. Although the festival has become a mass event, it has retained some of the rebellious and anarchistic atmosphere of the early days.
About 2 million visitors attend the festival every year, making it one of the biggest cultural and popular festivals in Europe. The number of visitors on top nights surpasses 250,000. In a 2005 ranking by localfestivities.com,[1] the Gentse Feesten was called the third biggest city festival in Europe, preceded by the Fallas in Valencia and the Oktoberfest in Munich.
The festival did not take place in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium, being held again in the summer of 2022, after a two-year break.
Traditionally the shows at the festival have been free, but in later years a number of side festivals have chosen the period of the Gentse Feesten to organize separate events.
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