The Gentse Feesten (; In Ghent dialect Gense Fieste "The Ghent Festival") is a music and theatre festival in the city of

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. Besides stage events there are street acts such as mimes and buskers. 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 July 21st, Belgium's national holiday, but that holiday is always included. The festival starts on "the (Fri)day before the Saturday before July 21st" and lasts ten days. The last day (always a Sunday) 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.

History

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 Walter De Buck (13 July 1934 – 21 December 2014) was a Belgian singer, sculptor and the founder of the modern (Ghent Festival). De Buck was born in Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a ...

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 '80s 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, the Gentse Feesten was called the third biggest city festival in Europe, preceded by the

Fallas The Falles ( ca-valencia, Falles; es, Fallas) is a traditional celebration held annually in commemoration of Saint Joseph in the city of Valencia, Spain. The five main days celebrated are from 15 to 19 March, while the Mascletà, a pyrotechnic ...

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

and the

Oktoberfest The Oktoberfest (; bar, Wiesn, Oktobafest) is the world's largest Volksfest, featuring a beer festival and a travelling carnival. It is held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It is a 16- to 18-day folk festival running from mid- or ...

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Festivals within the Gentse Feesten

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. *Trefpunt Festival – In the late '60s The Gentse Feesten were reinvented by Trefpunt vzw and Walter De Buck. Since 2011 it has been called Trefpunt Festival with locations around the city centre: Bij Sint Jacobs, Baudelohof, and many others. Every year Trefpunt Festival brings more than 1000 musicians from all over the world who perform more than 200 concerts in blues, rock, funk, soul, jazz, world music, and folk. *

Gent Jazz Festival The Gent Jazz Festival is an international jazz festival held annually in Ghent, Belgium in mid July. It lasts two weeks and the programmation is divided in two parts: the first week, called ''All That Jazz.'', unites some of the best jazz perfor ...

(formerly Blue Note Festival and Blue Note Records Festival) (since 2002): jazz festival, held at Castle of Counts in its initial years and then moved to the Abbey of Byloke. *Comedy Festival Gent (since 2007): comedy festival at JOC Rabot, which also hosts a few English-speaking shows. *International Puppetbuskerfestival: festival for puppeteers spread over the whole city. *International Street Theater Festival (MiramirO): *Polé Polé Festival (since 2003): World music at the

Korenlei Korenlei (; en, Wheat Quay or Corn Quay) is a quay in the historic city center of Ghent, Belgium, located on the left bank of the Leie river. The quay on the opposite bank of the Leie is Graslei Graslei (; en, Grass Quay) is a quay in the histor ...

and

Graslei Graslei (; en, Grass Quay) is a quay in the historic city center of Ghent, Belgium, located on the right bank of the Leie river. The quay opposite of the Graslei is called Korenlei. Both quays were part of the medieval port and are now a cultural ...

. *Ten Days Off (1995-2014): electronic dance music in the

Vooruit Vooruit ( nl, Kunstencentrum Vooruit, ) is a historic complex in Ghent, Belgium. Vooruit was originally the festival and art center of the Ghent-based labor movement, with a ballroom, cinema, theater, etc. It is now mainly used for concerts a ...

. Around 20, 000 visitors in 2005. Ten Days Off's final edition was in 2014 and will not return starting 2015. *Boomtown (since 2002): Alternative music. Originally held at ''Oude Beestenmarkt''. Due to renovations, the event wasn't organized in 2008 and moved to ''Kouter'' the year after. The festival would not return to its original square and remained at ''Kouter''. *Ground Zero Festival (2009): Free no-nonsense music festival in Damberd Jazz-café on the Korenmarkt *Belgian Summer Sing (since 2008): international choral festival spread over the whole city.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.gentsefeesten.be/
Photo-site Gentse Feesten...
Cultural festivals in Belgium Street fairs Culture of Ghent Jazz festivals in Belgium Tourist attractions in East Flanders July events Summer events in Belgium Events in Ghent Tourist attractions in Ghent