Discover Benelux | Belgium | The Best Festivals & Events in 2016
Jenever fever in Hasselt TEXT: ELLA PUT | PHOTOS: HASSELTSE JENEVERFEESTEN
Once a year Hasselt, the Belgian capital of jenever, celebrates the Hasseltse Jeneverfeesten. Visitors from all over Europe travel to the town to enjoy the big delight of a small glass filled with gin or ‘jenever’. Rumour has it that even the city’s fountain will be flowing with jenever during the festival. Jenever, or Dutch gin, plays an important role in the heritage of Hasselt. It was by chance that the city became one of the few towns in Flanders where the strong gin was allowed to be brewed. Here, the most powerful men in town were the bosses of the once more than 30 jenever distilleries. Even today, Hasselt is still famous for its spirits and the city is known as the ‘Belgian capital of jenever’. To celebrate the town’s relationship with the strong liquor, the Hasseltse Jeneverfeesten were organised for the first time almost 30 years ago: “The city 74 | Issue 25 | January 2016
was already home to Belgium’s national jenever museum, but we wanted to create an annual event honouring the history of jenever in Hasselt. A big party for a small glass,” says president of the festival Jean Pierre Swerts. The Jeneverfeesten, which started off small, are now a two-day event attracting more than 150,000 visitors. Festival guests from every age group travel from near and far to enjoy the city’s delights in the third weekend of October, and they are not only coming to drink a satisfying glass of jenever. “We offer a wide variety of cultural activities during the weekend. There is music, varying from classic to modern day genres, performed on a stage or at old balconies in the inner city, creating a spontaneous and surprising effect. There is stand-up comedy and street theatre. There is something for everyone,” says Swerts. “Furthermore there is a culinary village with the 15 best chefs from
Hasselt. They will be preparing delicious meals, with jenever of course.” Still, the festival stays true to its core: honouring the jenever heritage of Hasselt. Typical traditions and rituals are kept alive, for example the city fountain Het Borrelmanneke will not spew water, but jenever on Saturday. Moreover, the mayor of Hasselt always has to approve homebrewed jenever before it can be served at the festival. Swerts: “It’s wonderful to keep the heritage alive by organising a festival that brings so much joy. Almost everybody that visits the festival comes back the next year. What bigger compliment can we get?” www.jeneverfeesten.be This year’s Jeneverfeesten will take place on 15 and 16 October.