Gentse Feesten (Gent Festival)

Last week (July 20-29) there was a huge event here in Gent called the Gentse Feesten (Gent Festival). Here is quick snippet from the official website describing what Gentse Feesten is all about (www.gentsefeesten.be).

After almost 170 years, the Ghent Festivities have developed into one of the largest cultural festivals in Europe. During ten days, six international festivals are organized; there is cost-free music on 10 squares, animation for children in various locations in the city and hundreds of indoor and outdoor activities. The overall surface of the Festivities area amounts to 765.000 m2.

It is not possible to formulate an unequivocal profile for the Ghent Festivities. This festival is both an urban festival, a cultural event and a large-scale popular feast.

Since their origin in 1843, the Ghent Festivities have always been free of charge, which makes it approachable for a large audience, also owing to its diversity. In the past years, the number of visitors increased form 1.2 million to +/- 1.7 million, with a number of visitors of over 100.000 people every day.

There is a considerable fluctuation of one location to the other. There are common atmosphere seekers and there are target-oriented visitors.

Basically, it's a huge party all over the city. Thousands and thousands of people come to listen to music, dance, eat, drink, and party day and night. We were nervous about the festival because we get very mixed reviews from the locals we know. A few people said it was fun and that there would be many things for us to do with the boys. However, most people told us that it was a drunken mess and that they usually leave the city for some, if not all, of the festival. So we had no idea what to expect. Thankfully, we live just far enough from where most of the events were that we really weren't too affected by it. If we wanted to enjoy the festivities, we could walk over and participate. If not, we could stay on this side of town and remain pretty normal. Other than the crazy amount of people here, the only other inconvenience was the increased amount of drunken kids walking past our loft at 3:00 am. Even though we were dealing with the stomach bug during some of the festival, we were able to get out a couple nights and enjoy some music, food, dancing, and fun for the boys. Here are a few pictures.

Looking at the firetrucks

Looking at a stage over the water

The main stage

Dancing at the main stage

Watching the fireworks commemorating the Belgian independence day from our loft

The boys had a great time at the free children's play area near our house! 

 

Random body piercing stand in the middle of a square??

Enjoying a concert

The festival officially ended on Monday of this past week, but there were still people out and about at one of the main squares drinking and carrying on well into Tuesday. Cole went to check it out on his lunch break on Tuesday and said that the police and trash trucks were basically sitting there waiting for the people to finally leave so they could pack and clean things up. People really have a good time! :)

So overall, we don't feel like Gentse Feesten was a drag on our week. In fact, we are looking to next year so we can do more exploring and enjoying.