Flanders in the Nordic Countries

10/06/2026

📍 Working visit to Luleå, Sweden

Together with the Belgian Ambassador to Sweden and our colleagues from Flanders Investment and Trade, AWEX and Wallonie-Brussels International, we participated in a very insightful working visit to Luleå. 🇸🇪

We held constructive exchanges with the Governor of Norrbotten County, Ms Lotta Finstorp, and the Mayor of Luleå, Ms Carina Sammeli, focusing on regional and municipal priorities and exploring avenues for strengthened cooperation. 🤝

At Luleå University of Technology, we were introduced to the institution’s key strengths and priority domains, as well as its existing and potential collaboration with Belgian partners. 🎓

The visit to SSAB (Svenskt Stål AB) provided valuable insights into pioneering projects on fossil-free steel and the broader green transition of the steel industry. 🏭🌱 At the Port of Luleå, discussions centred on future development plans and strategic investments supporting sustainable growth and green logistics. ⚓

We also engaged with the Norrbotten Chamber of Commerce and exchanged views with the Honorary Consuls of France and Germany on the region’s economic development and emerging opportunities.🌍

Across all meetings, one message stood out clearly: Norrbotten is of strategic importance for Europe’s green transition, with strong assets in sustainable industry, innovation and clean energy.⚡

🙏 Many thanks to all our hosts for the open and forward-looking discussions.

Flanders Chancellery and Foreign Office
Embassy of Belgium in Sweden and Latvia

09/06/2026

🇩🇰Belgian creativity comes to Copenhagen!

For the first time, Belgium is Design takes part in 3daysofdesign with a curated selection of 14 Belgian design brands, showcasing the richness, innovation and bold spirit that define Belgian design today.

🛋️From lighting and textiles to furniture, faucets and objects, the presentation brings together established names and emerging voices — a unique blend of craftsmanship, experimentation and avant-garde design.

We are especially proud to see a strong Flemish presence at the festival, inlcuding Alinea Design Objects, Atelier Belge, Phantom Objects by Frederick Delbart, Home Studyo, Modular Lighting Instruments and Re-Volt.

📍 Pakhus 11, Dampfærgevej 4A, 2100 Copenhagen Ø
📅 10–12 June 2026
🕙 Open daily from 10 AM to 6 PM

Belgium is Design is an initiative by Wallonie-Bruxelles Design Mode, Flanders DC and MAD Brussels, promoting Belgian design internationally through curated projects and collaborations.

More info: https://www.3daysofdesign.dk/exhibition/belgium-is-design

Flanders DC

Belgium is Design is an initiative created to promote Belgian design on the international stage. Active since 2011, it brings together designers, studios and companies under a shared identity and a recognized label of quality. Through curated collective projects at major international design events,...

02/06/2026

🎼 The 25th edition of the Stockholm Early Music Festival takes place from 3 to 7 June. On 6 June, the festival will put the spotlight on the Leuven Chansonnier, a fifteenth-century songbook containing fifty polyphonic compositions of which, upon its discovery in 2015, twelve were unique. The Leuven Chansonnier has since attracted attention from around the world, and was in 2018 recognised as a Flemish Masterpiece.

📖Bart Demuyt, Director of the Alamire Foundation, will take the audience on a journey into the fascinating world of the songbook. How did this exceptional manuscript find its way to Leuven? Who acquired it? And how can such a remarkable discovery be made accessible to a wider audience? The seminar explores these and other questions, with particular attention to the role of innovative technology in the study and dissemination of this source.

The seminar is brought to life musically by the Sollazzo Ensemble under the direction of Anna Danilevskaia, with live performances of chansons from the songbook.

🎶In the evening, an intimate concert will feature works from the Leuven Chansonnier and other songbooks. With poetry reflecting themes of love, longing and solitude, the programme offers a glimpse into the emotional world of the late Middle Ages, featuring music by composers such as Okeghem, Busnoys and Morton.

For more information and tickets:

Seminar: https://www.earlymusicsweden.se/en/concerts/seminar-what-is-the-leuven-chansonnier/

Concert: https://www.earlymusicsweden.se/en/concerts/anonyma-sollazzo-the-leuven-chansonnier-2/

https://www.alamirefoundation.org/en/

Flanders Chancellery and Foreign Office Embassy of Belgium in Sweden and Latvia Departement Cultuur, Jeugd en Media Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek - Vlaanderen (FWO)

A small, seemingly insignificant manuscript discovered in Brussels turned out to be the Leuven Chansonnier - a hidden musical treasure containing a remarkable collection of 15th-century music, including previously unknown works. In this seminar, Bart Demuyt, General Director of the Alamire Foundatio...

28/05/2026

📚✨ Flemish illustrator Leo Timmers at the Norwegian Festival of Literature ✨📚

🇳🇴 From 1–7 June, Lillehammer hosts The Norwegian Festival of Literature — the largest non-commercial literary festival in the Nordic countries — and we are delighted to see Flemish illustrator and author Leo Timmers among this year’s guests.

Timmers, internationally acclaimed for his vivid, cinematic picture books filled with humour and heart, will take part in several events:

🐊 Kind Crocodile – storytelling sessions
📍 3 June (10:30–11:00), Kulturhuset Banken
📍 4 June (12:00–12:30), Galleri Zink
A playful and touching children’s story about how togetherness creates strength, presented together with book-bus host Trygve Ramnefjell.

🎨 The Universal in the Visual: Leo Timmers in conversation with Hilde Kramer
📍 3 June (16:00–16:50)
A conversation on visual storytelling, artistic universality, and Timmers’ distinctive style — characterised by bold colours, strong forms, and a subtle sense of humour.

Leo Timmers’ work has been translated into dozens of languages, sold over a million copies worldwide, and earned him nominations for both the 2026 Hans Christian Andersen Award and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. His recent book Kind Crocodile is now also available in Norwegian (Snille Krokodille).

📖 This presence is part of a broader effort by Flanders Literature to promote Flemish literature in the Nordic region. A key milestone will be the Netherlands and Flanders’ guest of honour presence at the Gothenburg Book Fair in September 2027 — where Leo Timmers will also appear this year (2026).

Leo Timmers’s cartoonish style is characterized by humour, form and colour, which make his illustrations leap off the page. His bright pictures and sharply outlined figures are a perfect match for the humorous undertone of his stories, which are full of animals and modes of transportation. Timmers...

27/05/2026

🍻 Flanders at Ølfestival 2026 in Copenhagen 🇩🇰

This weekend, Tourism Flanders is once again proud to be part of the Danske Ølentusiasters Ølfestival, taking place on Friday 29 and Saturday 30 May at Lokomotivværkstedet in Copenhagen.

Bringing the rich flavours of Flanders to Denmark, two exceptional GOESTING ambassadors take centre stage:

🧀 Frédéric Van Tricht – one of Belgium’s leading cheese affineurs, guiding visitors through the art of pairing handcrafted cheeses with carefully selected Belgian beers. Expect a true sensory experience with perfectly matched tastings.

🍺 Raf Van Pottelbergh (Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen) – diving into the world of traditional lambic. From an accessible introduction for newcomers to an advanced masterclass featuring grape lambics, these sessions explore one of Belgium’s most unique brewing traditions.

📅 Programme highlights

Friday 29 May
– 13:30–14:30: Beer & Cheese (Van Tricht)
– 19:30–20:30: Beer & Cheese (Van Tricht)
– 21:00–22:00: 3 Fonteinen for beginners (Van Pottelbergh)

Saturday 30 May
– 13:30–14:30: 3 Fonteinen advanced (grape lambic)
– 15:00–16:00: Beer & Cheese (Van Tricht)
– 19:30–20:30: 3 Fonteinen for beginners

A unique opportunity to discover the craftsmanship, tradition, and taste of Flanders — one glass (and bite) at a time.

👉 For more information and tickets: https://xn--lfestival-k8a.dk/

Visit Flanders

23/05/2026

✨ From Venice to Bergen: Vivaldi reimagined through dance ✨

🇳🇴 This spring, Bergen welcomes a remarkable encounter between music and movement as Rosas brings Il Cimento dell’Armonia e dell’Inventione to the stage of the Bergen International Festival.

Celebrated Flemish choreographer Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, together with Radouan Mriziga, offers a powerful, contemporary response to Vivaldi’s timeless Four Seasons. Inspired by the acclaimed interpretation of violinist Amandine Beyer, the work translates the rhythms and textures of this baroque masterpiece into a striking choreography.

In this special live version, the dancers of Rosas perform alongside Amandine Beyer and her ensemble Gli Incogniti, whose music breathes new life into Vivaldi’s iconic score. The result is a captivating dialogue between sound and movement—precise, poetic, and deeply human.

📍 Grieghallen, Bergen
🗓️ Sunday 31 May, 19:30
🗓️ Monday 1 June, 19:30

An extraordinary fusion of dance and live music not to be missed. 🎻💫

For tickets and info:

Vivaldi’s masterpiece reimagined in dance.

22/05/2026

✨ What Remains — Ultima Vez in Helsingborg ✨

🇸🇪 Next week, the powerful performance What Remains by Flemish dance company Ultima Vez comes to Helsingborg as part of Bibu – the Performing Arts Biennial for Children and Youth.

Choreographer Zoë Demoustier brings together two generations on stage: children at the very beginning of life and older dancers at its later stages. With an age difference of up to 70 years, this remarkable group explores the fragile beauty of memory, change, and the passing of time.

Through a poetic and physical interplay between young and old, What Remains reflects on what it means to grow, to remember, and to let go. Roles shift, vulnerability becomes strength, and the question emerges: who cares for whom?

A moving and thought-provoking performance about the ephemeral body—and the beauty found in both holding on and letting go.

📍 Helsingborgs Stadsteater
📆 29-30 May 2026
👥 From 12 years

Don’t miss this unique encounter between generations on stage.

https://bibu.se/en/what-remains

19/05/2026

🎤 Interview: Pieter De Poortere & Hugleikur Dagsson at Copenhagen Comics

How do you strike a balance between the grotesque, the amusing, and the unsettling?

At Copenhagen Comics (23–24 May, Valbyhallen), Flemish comic artist Pieter De Poortere joins Icelandic cartoonist Hugleikur Dagsson for a thought-provoking conversation at Word Balloon.

Both artists are known for pushing boundaries: Dagsson with his unapologetically dark humour, De Poortere with his iconic Dickie/Boerke—a wordless comic series that is at once absurd, cruel, and surprisingly human. Together, they will explore the fine line between what we laugh at—and what perhaps we shouldn’t—guided by interviewer Árni Beck Gunnarsson.

👉 Join the conversation and discover what lies behind humour that unsettles as much as it amuses.

https://copenhagencomics.dk/

15/05/2026

🌈 IDAHOT 2026 – Genuine democracy leaves no one behind

On 17 May, the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT), people around the world draw attention to the rights, dignity and safety of LGBTQI+ individuals. Through thousands of local initiatives, this collective engagement gives the day strong international visibility.

IDAHOT is both a moment of protest and of celebration: standing against discrimination and violence, while affirming sexual and gender diversity.

🔹 Democracy requires vigilance

With the slogan “At the heart of democracy”, IDAHOT 2026 highlights a simple truth: genuine democracy leaves no one behind. Even today, rights are under pressure. While Belgium ranks highly on ILGA‑Europe's Rainbow Index, signals from civil society organisations remind us that continued vigilance remains essential.

🤝 Commitment in Flanders and worldwide

The Flemish authorities support Pride initiatives that promote visibility and inclusion. They have also contributed to the Interfederal LGBTQI+ Action Plan.

Internationally, Flanders plays an active role through its Diplomatic Representations — from expressions of solidarity and Pride participation to policy dialogues, commemorations and contributions to international forums in cities such as Vienna, Budapest, Copenhagen, Paris, Pretoria and New York.



Flanders Chancellery and Foreign Office

12/05/2026

🇩🇰 The exceptional Flemish dance company Peeping Tom returns to Copenhagen with Chroniques!

Renowned worldwide for their distinctive hyperrealism and cinematic staging, Peeping Tom combines this with the dancers’ spectacular physicality.

In Chroniques, the hidden corners of the human psyche are explored as five bodies collide within a dreamlike labyrinth, giving rise to new physical logics.

Chroniques is part of the Danish dance festival København Danser.

📍Østre Gasværk Teater
📅21 May 2026 - 19:30
📅22 May 2026 - 19:30
📅23 May 2026 - 17:00

Buy tickets now! https://kbhdanser.dk/chroniques/