De Quaeye Werelt
There are two big events going on over this weekend (and beyond). Stad Antwerpen opens its Baroque Season . Events, walks, museum exhibitions, music and perfomances will celebrate this most opulent of styles, with which this part of the world is so closely associated. Baroque Season continues until January of next year. Kick-off events for this weekend can be found here, and a full and detailed programme can be read or downloaded here
Over Saturday and Sunday it’s De Quaeye Werelt at Sterckshof (Rivierenhof). This is an event which we always look forward to: De Quaeye Werelt takes you back to 1477: merchants, musicians, knights, and medieval folk of all types pitch their tents, sell their wares, and eat, drink and entertain for two days at Rivierenhof. The main event is the reconstruction of a medieval battle (at 3pm) which is fun, exciting and VERY noisy (take care of little ones and anyone who maybe alarmed by loud sudden noise; you might want to bring ear defenders for babies and kids). It’s an extremely friendly event with participants coming from all over Europe, and with something for everyone.
Friday
Start your weekend with drinks at Aper’eau on Bolivarplaats from 5pm.
Saturday
Hair of the dog? Seefhoek Brewery are hosting four bands at Cafe Seefhoek from midday at Leven in de Brouwerij.
Enjoy Boulevard National in the Quartier Nationale today, and the Latin Murga parade at Costa: “Music, street food, art and fashion all combined in one must-attend event!” promises the Facebook page . If you do not know this part of town, today would be a great day to check it out – it is a nice area for shopping if you want to get away from the high- street brands feel of Meir.
On Damplein from 2pm it’s Family Saturday. Take the kids along for music, performances, face-painting, free workshops and entertainment. Food, drinks and ice-creams available.
There are two runs taking place in Antwerp today. Good luck to all those taking part! There’s the Deurne 10 Miles and the Sint Andries run. The Deurne 10 Miles (at 19.30pm) raises money for bowel cancer, and there is a free run for kids at 6pm.
Here’s the Saturday programme for Baroque Antwerp Opening Weekend.
Sunday
First Sunday of the month means Sunday shopping in Antwerp. Shops will be open on Meir and on other shopping areas such as Nationalestraat and Kloosterstraat.
SKRAP are holding second hand markets on the Groenplaats for the next five shopping Sundays from 8am -8pm.
Here’s the Sunday programme for Baroque Antwerp Opening Weekend. Fans of street art will be especially interested in the opening of the Baroque murals. These four special works of art were commissioned for the Baroque season.
It’s going to be a warm weekend again, with the possibility of some showers on Saturday.
Miscellaneous
It is always nice to be contacted by people who are coming to Antwerp and have scoped out Nessascityblog, so I was delighted to hear from Tigers and Flies -a UK Brighton based band, who have an accessible, jangly indie-pop sound. You can give them a listen here or catch them live at Korsakov’s on Wednesday night at 8pm. For free!
Sinksenfoor (annual funfair) is underway in Park Spoor Oost and it is HUGE. We went two weeks ago and had a great time. It’s on until 24th June. And you can print out some vouchers for deals and reductions on rides & food here.
Beyond Nessascityblog
It’s been really great to have worked with other interesting people recently. Here’s a round -up of some Nessascityblog collabs:
Firstly I wrote Three Great Spots For When The Sun Is Shining which was published on the Stad Antwerpen website and optimistically describes three places in the city you might want to check out if the weather holds out …
Next I wrote this guest post about 5 Antwerp destinations for the blog Discovering Belgium.
I also thoroughly enjoyed myself in conversation with comedian Nigel Williams of Stand Up Antwerp. You can hear the podcast of that conversation here. It is the first of a new series of weekly podcasts that Nigel is working on called “Babbel Without A Cause” about members of the expat community in Antwerp.
I was also interviewed for The Bulletin and look forward to sharing that soon.
Anyway, this all serves of a reminder of how nice it is to work with others, so if you have an Antwerp idea for Nessascityblog that you would like to contribute, or something you would like written for your own publication, please get in touch.
Find & Follow Nessascityblog
Find Nessascityblog on social media, where additional events and activities are also posted
Facebook (Events in Antwerp: in conjunction with London Calling)
Twitter & Pinterest
pics this week courtesy of Skrap, Visit Antwerp, and Tigers & Flies.
