The Gentse Feesten (Gent Festivals) dominate our city for ten days every year. The enormous festival includes a parade, international music, dance, theatre and puppetry festivals, fireworks displays and much much more. There are at least 9 performance stages and activities on 12 different pleins (sites in the city). Plus there are street activities that span the spaces in between. Here is a link to some publicity pictures. The words are in Dutch but you can still look at the pictures to get an idea of what it is like.
http://www4.gent.be/gent/vrijetij/feesten/2005/publicatiefotos/publicatiefotos.htm
Mornings are quieter with some cultural events and tours of the different places in the city. Afternoons are more cultural and there are family friendly-events everywhere. Evenings are more devoted to concerts and the serious party crowd. Most pleins have concerts that last until 2:20 to 3:00AM.
More than 1.5 million people attended the festivities last year.
The festival was created in the middle of the 19th century by the elite people of Gent aiming to attract prosperous people to the city. From horse races, jousts, tournaments, hot air balloons and parades of giants, the festivities have gone through numerous changes before arriving at the format they have today.
No less than four separate international festivals add lustre to the overall festivities: the Blue Note Records Festival, the International Street Theatre Festival, the International Puppetbuskers Festival and the dance festival 10 Days Off.
Watch this site for our daily encounters and impressions of the 2008 Gentse Feesten.
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