Brussels 2009 Comic Strips
2009 is the Year of the Comic Strip and the events programme is already online in English. It all kicks off with a Balloon Day Parade in February…
www.brusselscomics.com




ON NOW UNTIL 2009:
The Smile of Buddha. 1600 Years of Buddhist Art in Korea
until 18 January 2009 @ Bozar
…with the finest Buddhist masterpieces from Korea
www.bozar.be

This is our Earth until 26 April 2009 @ Tour & Taxis
The biggest exhibition ever organised in Europe on the environment & sustainable development.

For professional & private events, the place offers two exclusive venues: - A space of 400 m2 offering to the guests an authentic immersion into a world of pictures dedicated to the human being and nature - A flexible space of 800 m2 For tailor-made solutions adapted to your budget, contact: Olivier Trappeniers +32 475 61 08 20 nocturnes@tempora.be www.expo-terra.be

Brussels Biennial 2008 on until 4 January 2009 @ Bozar
A last chance to catch this impressive contemporary art show.
www.brusselsbiennial.be

COMING SOON: 54th Brussels Antiques & Fine Arts Fair 23 January – 01 February 2009 @ Tour & Taxis www.brafa.be

REMINDER: COBRA art exhibition on until 15 February 2009 @ MRBA
www.expo-cobra.be
www.fine-arts-museum.be

An unusual new event venue is the recently opened Musée bruxellois du Moulin et de l’Alimentation (Brussels Museum of Milling & Food) in a former mill in the Evere district of the city.
www.moulindevere.be







The Art Deco Marivaux cinema has been transformed into the Marivaux Hotel, Congress & Seminar Centre with 80 new bedrooms; 12 modular meeting rooms; 2 auditoria for 90 & 110 people with all the latest technical wizardry & simultaneous translation facilities.
www.hotel-vendome.be

The countdown is on to the reopening of the world-famous Brussels Museum of Cinema on 31 January 2009, where it’s also possible to arrange private showings of films.
www.cinematheque.be

Euronext Brussels is upgrading two auditoria at the Stock Exchange as part of a programme of refurbishment and renting office space to companies in the financial sector.

The new Grand Casino Brussels and the complete renovation of the Anspach Centre is due for completion ahead of schedule in September 2009. It will be twice the size of the present casino with 35 gaming tables, 400 machines, a restaurant & a theatre with seating for 700.
www.grandcasinobrussels.be

Renaissance Brussels Hotel in the European Quarter has renovated its conference facilities to ensure successful business meetings & customer events.
www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/brubr-renaissance-brussels-hotel/

Square – Brussels Meeting Centre is on schedule to open in less than 10 months on 20.09.09.
www.square-brussels.eu

Brussels-in-Berlin took place on 15 October in the Berliner Congress Center, and was the biggest & best international Brussels Day to-date.

And once again it was an integrated marketing success and showcase of what Brussels does best – meetings, incentives, food, fashion & design. A team of VIPs, representing the Region and City of Brussels, led a major delegation of over 60 public & private sector partners… and they put on a great show:

YES, we can…and yes, WE ARE
changing the international face & image of Brussels.
To get a taste of the unique atmosphere of our Brussels Days:
www.brusselsday.be

From end November, a very special atmosphere envelopes the city, and it’s definitely the right time of year to combine some serious Brussels business with a spot of Christmas shopping & fun.

Winter Wonders, 28 November – 28 December
A month-long festival of winter fun when the historic centre turns into a gigantic Christmas market – the largest in Belgium – with its 240 market chalets, ‘son et lumière’ in the Grand’Place, ice rink, Big Wheel & illuminated musical walk. This year’s Guest destination is Belgium’s very own Wallonia. Read all about it…
www.winterwonders.be

Make sure you get the Winter Wonders edition of the Brussels Card at reduced rates and with lots of special Christmas advantages for 24-48-72 hours.
For travel & meeting industry info on prices, commission & contracts, contact Anousjka Schmidt @ BITC on +32 2 548 04 57
a.schmidt@brusselsinternational.be
www.brusselscard.be

And at the heart of Winter Wonders, overlooking the ice rink, there’s a special festive space for your end-of year events for up to 150 guests. A Wonders Package includes champagne, a full meal, skating & a flight on the Big Wheel
brasserie@brusselsinternational.be

The Winter Terrace, open 26 November to 11 January, with 300 sq m of ice skating is the latest addition to Arne Quinze’s extraordinary Cityscape sculpture inthe Louise Convention District. Aways a fun venue for corporate events…
www.winterterrace.com

SolstiS – Brussels 1st Festival of Light
Brussels Region has invited 3 top artists – one French, one English & one Belgian – to light up a magic trail along the Inner Ring, between Place Rogier & Place Louise. Their six original artistic creations are visible everyday, 17.00-01.00, during the festive season.

Start with the Gift-wrapped tower in Rogier or, the other way round, in Place Stéphanie in a mountain of luminous presents….It’s easy to do the trail on foot, by bike or even using public transport as each creation is near a Metro stop.

This first SolstiS is part of the Brussels Regional Energy Plan and uses all the most advanced energy-saving technology.
www.solstis.be

A WONDERful Italian Christmas, 29 November - 15 January @ Koekelberg Basilica. The most important exhibition ever of Italian Christmas cribs & Nativity scenes. The largest has some 350 figures & 60 buildings…









REMINDER: Museum’s Nights until 18 December 2008
Still a chance to catch a late Thursday opening and one of the many Museum Night cultural events all over Brussels
www.brusselsmuseums.be

Dining in the dark, a blinding experience….
Starting 4 December 2008, and for 6 days every month, Only4Senses is organising a unique event at Bruxelles en Scène (Brussels-on-Stage) in the vaulted cellars underneath the Galeries Saint-Hubert.

You dine with the help of a team of blind people in total darkness, an experience which heightens the 4 remaining senses. The menu is always a surprise and the food is chosen for its texture & flavours.

There are 2 separate sittings on the 6 evenings (4th to 9th) each month with a capacity of 54 guests. An unusual and original teambuilding exercise for companies & associations where at the end, with the benefit of the light, colleagues discuss the sensations they experience.
www.only4senses.com

Mad about Brussels?
Brusselsmania is the new BI-TC campaign to attract the 18-30s to Brussels. Designed for the websurfing generation, www.brusselsmania.com creates a virtual universe in which 5 young cartoon guides help surfers discover different highlights of the city:

•	Nightlife - the festivals, clubs, bars, brasseries & the capital’s alternative hotspots. Brussela Cheraton is your ticket to the craziest and most exclusive parties in town. When she's not on the dance floor, you'll find her scouting for new trendy clubs to check out with her friends. This girl just wants to have fun!
•	BudgetTricks - hot Brussels travel deals, cheap sleeps & eats… After years of globetrotting, Poco fell in love with a girl from Brussels and decided the time had come to put his backpack down. No one is more skilled in the art of low budget than this master of everything free.
•	CrazyLab - the offbeat universe; the unique Brussels experience, somewhere between tradition & avant-garde, gastronomy & folklore, past & present. This robot was originally designed to guide tourists. Unfortunately, the surrealism of Brussels made BRU4EVER short-circuit. He's been on the loose ever since, hopping from one exuberant experience to another.
•	HypeSafari - trendy areas of Europe’s capital; weird & wonderful urban atmospheres and the latest musts (events, stores, exhibitions,…). Antoine Dansaert was kicked out of the Academy of Fine Arts for calling his teachers old-fashioned whiners. He now spends his time unravelling the mix of European cultures in the countless museums and trendy areas of the city.
•	UniverCity - Brussels as an attractive university city, aimed at future & current Erasmus students (parties, activities, Facebook community,…). After passing a year as an Erasmus student in Brussels, Chloe Rasmus felt she didn't want to give up the thrilling student vibe of this city. This girl knows all the ins and outs of student life in the capital of Europe.

A great source of hot tips, ideas & inspiration…

For adventurous food lovers…
…Brussels Celebrity Chef, Damien Vanderhoeven recommends his
Pan-fried foie gras terrine with spicy cinnamon biscuit, cherry chutney and kriek beer caramel
…in 6 ‘easy’ steps!

Make speculoos, the spicy Christmas cinnamon biscuit
• Mix 250g soft butter with 250g brown sugar
• Add an egg, 5cl milk & 35g yeast, 15g cinnamon & 500g flour
• Make ‘sausages’ out of the mix, allow to harden & cut in 0.5cm pieces
• Cook in the oven for 6 minutes at 200ºC
• When the speculoos has cooled down, crush roughly into smaller pieces

Create cherry chutney
• Put 1dl cherry vinegar & 100g sugar in a pan, and reduce the mixture
• Add half a kilo of frozen cherries and simmer for an hour

Make the kriek beer caramel using 100g sugar & 6cl kriek

Seasoning
• reduce 20g speculoos powder & 2g salt crystals

The Creator
Damien Vanderhoeven has been cooking professionally since 1990. Following studies at CERIA, he worked his way up through 5 different restaurants in 5 years to head chef at La Ferme de la Brire in Lasne. In 1995 he opened Le Coriandre in Brussels.

Any questions?
…or if you prefer not to work so hard in your own kitchen…

Restaurant Le Coriandre
Rue Middelbourg, 21   1170 Bruxelles
Tél. 02 672 45 65
www.lecoriandre.be
info@lecoriandre.be

We are the official Brussels Convention & Visitors Bureau - here to help you bring your meetings, events & tours to Brussels.
We work closely with Agencies & Tour Operators; Associations & Corporates; EU & International Institutions; the Brussels Incoming Industry & Hotels; and the Media.

We have up-to-the-minute information for you & your clients: www.brusselsinternational.be as well as a wide range of attractive & practical printed material to help you sell our city.

We are completely neutral & offer independent advice. We can put you in contact with DMCs, PCOs, hotels, venues & other suppliers, according to your own particular needs.

We look forward to welcoming you here in Brussels!

Who can I talk to?
Are you organising a meeting, an incentive, a site inspection or a group tour?
Are you an agency, an association, a company, a tour operator…?
Click here to find out who you need to talk to…

Brussels International – Tourism & Congress
Rue Royale 2
B- 1000 Brussels
Tel: +32 2 549 50 50
Fax: +32 2 549 50 59
mice@brusselsinternational.be
www.brusselsinternational.be