Everything about The Gentse Feesten totally explained
The
Gentse Feesten is a music and theatre festival in the city of
Ghent (
Belgium). Besides stage events there are random small street acts such as
mimickers,
buskers, etc. It starts on the Saturday before
July 21 (Belgium's national holiday) and lasts ten days. The last day (always a Monday) 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 by the people of Ghent seen as
their day while the stream of visitors from other places ceases.
History
The first Gentse Feesten were held in
1832 in celebration of the first anniversary of the creation of Belgium in
1831. The intensity of the festivities changed throughout the years, sometimes very strong and radiant (for example the 100-year anniversary was said to be very festive and lively), but sometimes also very low-key.
The modern day Gentse Feesten were started in the summer of
1969 by Ghent singer
Walter De Buck and the people from the
Trefpunt cafe. In the beginning the festival consisted of one stage near the
Saint Jacob Church, but from the late eighties the festival has grown enormously and now covers 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. Public drunkenness isn't entirely unseen.
Size
About 2 million visitors attend the festival every year, making it one of the biggest cultural and popular festivals in Europe. The number of unique visitors on top nights surpasses 250.000. In a 2005 ranking by
www.localfestivities.com
, the Gentse Feesten was called the third biggest city festival in Europe, only preceded by the
Fallas in
Valencia and the
Oktoberfest in
Munich.
Festivals within the Gentse Feesten
Traditionally the shows at the festival have been free, but in the later years a number of side festivals have chosen the period of the Gentse Feesten to organize separate events.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Gentse Feesten'.
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