Jazz Marathon In Brussels
We happened to be in Brussels for the annual Jazz Marathon. The Jazz Marathon is a free concert pop up series all over town. We stayed 2 blocks off of Grand Place and the biggest outdoor stage was right there. There were several smaller outdoor stages, and tons of bars, restaurants and clubs put on free shows as well.
What luck to have planned this weekend for a trip. We hit a few of the big outdoor shows, and a few smaller jams as well. It was wonderful, every quaint street we had walked down in the daytime was now bursting at the seams with people dancing, drinking and having an all around great time. It really had the feeling of being transported back in time.
The Zinneke Parade Was Also Afoot
The Zinneke Parade was an added surprise, we happened upon it midday. Here’s the description from the booklets they passed out to the public.
“A contemporary, urban, creative and artistic parade, cherry on the cake of an intense collaboration between inhabitants, associations, schools and artists from the different neighborhoods of Brussels and beyond. Zinneke is a collective creation, a walking extravaganza and as such, it presents itself both as an expression of and an experiment in making a city through diversity”.
There were different ‘troops’ that create a concept, floats, costumes, song and dance to inhabit the central theme. This years theme was Frail.
There were collectives displaying homemade floats, costumes, and art pieces. Some groups had live music, or interactive dance installations to participate in. There was a real sense of community and openness that was palpable. Some of the ideas shown to embody the central theme of frailty are pictured below.
The human body- to show frailty of tissues and the mortal coil and Hobos to show how easily you can be displaced and torn from your belongings and monetary stability. I wish we had known about the event in advance, as we were only able to catch the last 1/2 hour or so of the festivities.
For more information on this rad display go to their site HERE
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