Discover Benelux | Guide | Top Flemish Festivals & Events 2019
VestiVille conquers the Belgian festival scene TEXT: MAYA WITTERS | PHOTOS: VESTIVAL
Belgium has no shortage of festivals, but this year brings a promising newcomer: VestiVille. The festival in Lommel, successor of the popular Dutch Vestival, is ready to win the hearts of Belgians with a banging line-up including Cardi B, A$AP Rocky and Migos. VestiVille might be a newcomer to the Belgian summer programme, but its organisers boast plenty of experience. “We have been in the events business since 2005,” explains Vestival CEO Aymira Ty. “We started off with indoor parties, then moved onto the outdoor Vestival in 2014, which we organised successfully for four years on different sites.”
When Vestival outgrew the various urban location options in the Netherlands, the organisation decided to hop across the border to Lommel, where the perfect space was found just outside the town centre. As newcomers with towering ambition, VestiVille was subject to initial scrutiny from the council, but was soon given the green light. VestiVille aims to attract a young, fashionable crowd of mainstream music lovers. Its line-up is a resolute choice for chart-topping pop and hip-hop music. The festival will also harbour six themed entertainment areas. These platforms bring all worlds of urban culture together, promoting
beauty, wellness, gaming & e-sports, urban sports, fashion and art. Despite coinciding with the legendary Rock Werchter festival, VestiVille tickets are selling like hotcakes. “We had no other choice for the dates this year, so we knew we had to serve a top-notch line-up to win people over. Our ample experience and great artist relations have helped us book big names,” concludes Ty. Vestiville, 28 - 30 June at Kristalpark Lommel. Check out the line-up and get your tickets at: www.vestiville.com
Contemporary Baroque in AMUZ TEXT: ARNE ADRIAENSSENS | PHOTO: JOHAN BECKERS
Since it is settled in a former Baroque church, Antwerp’s unique concert hall AMUZ, which focuses exclusively on historically informed performances, has always been easy on the eye. Yet, its latest additions, three emerald artworks by the city’s most famous artist, Jan Fabre, add a 21st-century touch to its elaborate décor. When the Saint Augustine Church (where AMUZ, a concert hall for classical music, is housed today) was sanctified four centuries ago, grandmasters – Peter Paul Rubens, Antoon Van Dyck and Jacob Jordaens – adorned the three altars. In the late 1950s, however, these panels were in a bad shape and had to be moved to the Museum of Fine Arts for restoration. The empty spots were filled by three replicas. “Last year, in the light of the Antwerp Baroque festival, the city of
Antwerp decided to replace these copies with more contemporary art,” says Julie Hendrickx, public relations manager at AMUZ. “They asked Jan Fabre – Antwerp’s most famous artist – to reinterpret these three paintings as a salute to the Baroque masters and as a celebration of the church’s 400th birthday.” This resulted in three regally green tableaus. The central one, replacing the painting by Rubens, illustrates a mighty Lamb of God and a gigantic diamond, referring to
Antwerp, the link between Fabre and Rubens. Although from a distance, the masterpieces look like paintings, they are, in fact, made from thousands of shields from real jewel beetles. In the past, Fabre also decorated a ceiling of the Belgian royal palace with these little animals. “These emerald shields fit the Baroque atmosphere of AMUZ like a glove. They cause an explosion of colours and a fascinating play of light, just as vivid as the way Rubens used to capture the world.” Witness the artworks in AMUZ every day from 2pm to 5pm, from 14 July until 14 August, or during one of the many concerts which take place there.
Web: www.amuz.be
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