What’s on 15-21 May 2025
⭐ This Week's Top Picks
Too Many Keys. Immerse yourself in a delightful musical trance during this special concert evening. An ode to minimalism, and to the piano.
Atelier in beeld. Visit this big open weekend for visual artists and discover inspiring work in special studios across the city.
Meifoor (May fair) Join the fun of the fair at Meifoor Brugge, a historic folk festival with medieval roots, packed with rides and attractions.
🎨 🎻 🧺 Art, Music & Markets
5 pianists: Too Many Keys. “Five pianists will immerse you in a delightful musical trance during this special concert evening. An ode to minimalism, and to the piano.
Composer (of such films as Lion and Dune: Prophecy soundtrack, among others) and pianist Hauschka transforms the hall into a sonic laboratory, letting the audience navigate between purity and complexity. His tool is the grand piano, which he ‘prepares’ with bits of tape, felt and all sorts of materials. Add a generous dash of electronics and you end up with music that makes your body vibrate in every fibre.
With her warm and minimalist music, Turkish Büşra Kayıkçı moves in similar spheres to her example Nils Frahm, for whose Piano Day compilation she also contributed. She is fascinated by the sound of her instrument. With echoes to Cage and Frahm, but above all a very pure individuality, she nestles you in her cosy repetitive and endless sounds.
In the studios of Nils Frahm, Amsterdam-based pianist Helena Basilova recorded an album of interpretations of the work of Ryuichi Sakamoto, whose music hovers between 80s synth, electro-pop and (neo)classical. On piano, synthesizers and electronics, she pays an incantatory and appropriate tribute to the maestro.
Composer Alvin Curran and pianist Daan Vandewalle have been making music together for more than 20 years. Central to their concert is Era Ora (Italian for ‘It's about time’ or ‘Finally’ or ‘Let's go’). With that thought in mind, Curran and Vandewalle create a world of conjuring sounds and endlessly varying masses of sound that fill the entire Chamber Music Hall.” Tickets: €13-26. 17 May, 20:00. Concertgebouw ('t Zand 34.) https://www.concertgebouw.be/en/too-many-keys-2
Atelier in beeld. “Atelier in beeld is the big open studio weekend for visual artists throughout Flanders and Brussels. An ideal moment for artists to open the doors of their studio or for visitors to discover inspiring work in special studios. During the open studio weekend you'll visit workplaces that usually remain closed, you can talk to artists and discover a lot of visual work. More than 2500 artists spread over 1600 studios are participating this year.” 17-18 May, 11:00-18:00, locations across Bruges: https://www.atelierinbeeld.be/nl/over
Monster Hit. Liesa Naert is the resident artist this season at the Bruges Cultural Centre. “The monster you never, ever want to encounter. What does that look like? … Inspired by her children's monster drawings, resident artist Liesa Naert is organizing an exhibition in our Biekorf exhibition space. In the theme "Praise of Playfulness" she is investigating, together with the people of Bruges, how impactful the imagination can be and she also wants to immerse adults in that world.” Until 20 Jun. FREE. Exporuimte Biekorf - Sint-Jakobsstraat 8.
https://www.ccbrugge.be/agenda/4370//monsterhit
Weekly markets. Due to the annual May fair, a buzzing centre of fairground attractions on ‘t Zand, Saturday markets this month, and the market on Wednesday will both be on the Grote Markt/Burg.
🎬 🎭 Stage, Screen, and Scene
Cinema. Cinema Lumière (Sint-Jakobsstraat 36) will be showing a variety of films over the next week. These include Good One, The Surfer, Conclave, Traffic, Black Dog and The Brutalist. Ticket prices are up to €12, with a family film option before 16:30 costing €9. Visit the cinema’s website for films, timings and bookings: https://lumiere-brugge.be/agenda-lumiere-brugge/
Kinepolis (Koning Albert l-laan 200) will offer films and showings over the coming week including Mission Impossible - The Final Reckoning (Preview), Paddington in Peru, A Minecraft Movie, The Amateur, and Thunderbolts. A standard ticket costs €14,10. Visit https://kinepolis.be/nl/nl/movies/overview/ for more information and bookings.
⚽ Game On: Sports & Recreation
Football fans visiting Bruges can watch the city’s two world famous clubs, Brugge KSV (“Club Brugge”) and Cercle Brugge KSV (“Cercle Brugge”) play during the season at the city’s Jan Breydel stadium (Koning Leopold III-laan 50). Watch this space for scheduled matches during the season for your next visit! :) .
🍻🎶 Bruges After Dark: Nightlife
Snõõper + Daufødt. “Snõõper began as a project between Nashville punk figure Connor Cummins and visual/video artist Blair Tramel.The band is seen as one of the current frontrunners of 'eggpunk' , an internet-based microgenre characterized by lo-fi productions, a satirical approach and heavily inspired by American no wave band DEVO.
Based on their wild and chaotic live shows, a whirlwind of puppets, 8-bit animations, papier mâché, whistles, strobes and a writhing collection of body parts, Snõõper quickly became one of the most talked about art punk bands . The group is described by Hardcore head Henry Rollins – not one to be outdone – as follows: "In the briefest of descriptions, Snõõper is a band who, in a 33 1/3 rpm world, make 45 rpm music they play at 78 and it completely works.
Even with the gas pedal to the floor, Snõõper manages to musically round the sharpest corners. The result is a mega dose of extremely cool and unique songs that will make even the stiffest rake squirt. Their debut album 'Super Snõõper' was released in July 2023 on Third Man Records, Jack White 's label, and in the meantime the band is working on a successor.
Snõõper is also a welcome guest in Belgium , with shows in Cabron, Botanique and a much-appreciated festival passage at Leffingeleuren . Come and rock Cactus Café!”
“The very young Norwegian Daufødt has one foot in punk while kicking open the other doors towards noise, drone and experimental music . Decibels and energy are the defining elements in their sound, which ranges from 60-second punk rock songs to minutes of noise terror . In doing so, the band switches flux between elements of extreme metal , d-beat hardcore and surprisingly catchy rock riffs.
For the faint of heart: Daufødt is not for the faint of heart but also surprisingly fresh and original. In their home country they are considered a breath of fresh air in guitar land and Daufødt was awarded the Norwegian equivalent of a Grammy. Their latest album 'Glitter' (2024) is a perfect summary of their skills, but Daufødt 's crazy music is best enjoyed when they blow in your face live. Whoever remains standing for the last time is the winner!”
Tickets: €13-20. 19 May, 19:30. Cactus café, Bargeweg 10. https://www.cactusmusic.be/NL/Concerten/Kalender/snooper
🌈 Family Fun: Events & Adventures
Meifoor (May fair). “Meifoor Brugge is a folk festival that dates back as far as the year 1200. Indeed, in that year an International Annual Fair was organised in Bruges for the first time. Meifoor Brugge takes place in the city centre. As a result, a considerable part of the historic city centre is dedicated to carnivals for weeks.” There are reductions available for several attractions: https://fori.be/fileadmin/user_upload/documents/bonnenMeifoor2025.pdf
Until 1 Jun. ‘t Zand. https://www.brugsemeifoor.be/home/
Atelier Matinée, Concertgebouw (Concert hall). The entrance hall of the Concertgebouw transforms into a play, craft, and discovery zone on (almost) every Sunday morning. FREE, next on 18 May, 09:30. https://www.concertgebouw.be/nl/atelier-matinee-en-workshops
Concertgebouw tours. The concert hall offers tours of its architecture and (sound) art exhibition. https://www.concertgebouw.be/nl/concertgebouw-circuit Guided tours are available on some days, including on 18 May. Tickets: €6-12, FREE for children under 6. Concertgebouw ('t Zand 34.) https://ticketshop.ticketmatic.com/concertgebouw/shop
🌤️🌧️ Weather
The forecast is a mix of cloudy sunshine, with some showers, and daytime temperatures expected of 14°C-16°C.
Find latest forecasts covering Bruges at: https://www.meteo.be/en/belgium