What's on in Ghent, Belgium through the year

Peak crowds — Gentse Winterfeesten, Winter (Christmas) holidays in Belgium

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Gentse Winterfeesten (3 Dec – 3 Jan)

Peak crowds — Omloop Het Nieuwsblad start, Krokusvakantie (Carnival) holidays in Belgium

• Festival

  Omloop Het Nieuwsblad start

  22 Feb – 2 Mar · usuallySporting eventCrowded

  Belgium's road cycling season opens on the last weekend of February with the team presentation and start at 't Kuipke in Citadelpark. Fans pack the park in the morning, then drive out to the cobbled hills to watch. Source ↗

• Festival

  Halfvastenfoor funfair

  7–29 MarMajor festivalCrowded

  The mid-Lent funfair takes over Sint-Pietersplein for about three weeks with more than 80 rides and stalls selling smoutebollen. Evenings and weekends are busiest, and the square's usual car park is out of use while the fair stands. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Omloop Het Nieuwsblad start, Halfvastenfoor funfair

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad start (22 Feb – 2 Mar (usually)), Halfvastenfoor funfair (7–29 Mar)

Busy — Paasvakantie (Easter) holidays in Belgium, school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Halfvastenfoor funfair (7–29 Mar)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in May.

Busy — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in June.

Peak crowds — Gent Jazz, Gentse Feesten

• Festival

  Gent Jazz

  2–18 JulMusic festivalCrowded

  A week of headline sets on the old Bijloke abbey grounds, jazz read broadly enough to include most of what plays festivals in July. It runs just before the city's own ten days start. Source ↗

• Festival

  Gentse Feesten

  17–26 JulMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  Ten days when the whole medieval centre becomes free stages and the squares do not empty until dawn. It starts on the Friday before the third Sunday of July, and it is not the week to come for quiet canals. Source ↗

Busy — Zomervakantie (summer) holidays in Belgium, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Festival

  OdeGand

  12 SepMusic festival

  One Saturday of classical and world music played in churches, courtyards and on boats along the water, with the audience moving between them by barge. Tickets are a single pass for the day. Source ↗

Busy — Film Fest Gent, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Film Fest Gent

  7–18 OctFilm festivalCrowdedBook early

  Belgium's main film festival, built around film music and the World Soundtrack Awards. Twelve days of screenings across the city and the one time hotels here are hard in autumn. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Six Days of Ghent, Herfstvakantie (autumn) holidays in Belgium

• Festival

  Six Days of Ghent

  17–22 NovSporting eventCrowdedBook early

  Six nights of track racing on the steep little Kuipke velodrome, with beer, music and a packed infield. Book ahead for the final evenings; it is the liveliest thing on in the city in November. Source ↗

• Festival

  Gentse Winterfeesten

  3 Dec – 3 JanChristmas & New YearCrowded

  The Christmas market spreads from Sint-Baafsplein past the belfry to the Korenmarkt, with around 150 huts, a skating rink and a Ferris wheel. Weekend evenings are the most crowded; weekday afternoons are calmer. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Gentse Winterfeesten, Winter (Christmas) holidays in Belgium

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Gentse Winterfeesten (3 Dec – 3 Jan)