Festival of Flanders is an annual music event at different locations in Flanders

Flanders

Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

. It started initially as a "Summer Festival", but now its activities are spread from January to May, with a peak in the late summer and early autumn.

History

The Festival of Flanders has its roots in Tongeren, Limburg

Limburg (Belgium)

Limburg is the easternmost province of modern Flanders, which is one of the three main political and cultural sub-divisions of modern Belgium. It is located west of the river Meuse . It borders on the Dutch provinces of North Brabant and Limburg and the Belgian provinces of Liège, Flemish Brabant...

, where Jan Briers organized the Basilica-concerts from 1958 in the basilica

Basilica

The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...

 of Tongeren. At first there was played religiously inspired choral music, but soon it was extended to other classical music

Classical music

Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

, instrumental

Instrumental

An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....

 music; and other locations. Often, historical sites such as abbey

Abbey

An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...

s and castles are used, with an occasional transfer to Maastricht

Maastricht

Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...

.

As in other Flemish cities (classical) summer concerts were held as well, they joined forces in 1972 and created the more comprehensive 'Festival of Flanders'.

The organization was actively supported by the newly emancipated Flemish "cultural autonomy"

Flemish government

The Flemish Government is the executive branch of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region. It consists of up to a maximum of eleven ministers, chosen by the Flemish Parliament...

. Especially in Brussels they wanted to exhibit "serious" Flemish culture. Partly because of this, they could bring prestigious orchestra

Orchestra

An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

s and big names to Flanders. At the same time it gave the festival a somewhat elitist character.

In the nineties, they began to see the creation of this one-sided image and so the program was expanded to include contemporary music, sound art

Sound art

Sound art is a diverse group of art practices that considers wide notions of sound, listening and hearing as its predominant focus. There are often distinct relationships forged between the visual and aural domains of art and perception by sound artists....

, youth, jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

, organ music, musical theater, and cross-overs with visual arts

Visual arts

The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...

, film, dance.

Spreading

The Festival of Flanders exists of diverse festivals spread across different Flemish cities and provinces:

• Antwerp:
  • Laus Polyphoniae: http://www.amuz.be/en/programma/laus-polyphoniae
• Bruges:
  • MAFestival: http://www.mafestival.be/concerts_all.php?taal=en&da_id=20100815
• Brussels:
  • KlaraFestival/The European Galas/Living Room Music/MusMA/Dorp op stap/Festival on Tour http://www.festivalbrxl.be/en
• Ghent:
  • Gent Festival van Vlaanderen http://www.festivalgent.be/Home/tabid/36/language/en/Default.aspx
• Kortrijk:
  • Happy New Festival van Vlaanderen http://www.happynewfestival.be/Welkom.html
• Limburg:
  • Basilica Festival van Vlaanderen http://www.basilica.be/
• Mechelen:
  • Mechelen hoort stemmen/Festival+/Festival Kempen http://www.festivalmechelen.be/
• Flemish Brabant:
  • NOVECENTO http://www.festivalvlaamsbrabant.be/en/programma/novecento
  • TRANSIT http://www.festivalvlaamsbrabant.be/en/programma/transit