Gentse Feesten

The Gentse Feesten (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɣɛntsə ˈfeːstə(n)]; "Ghent Festival") is a music and theatre festival in the city of Ghent, Belgium. Besides stage events there are random small street acts such as mimickers, buskers, etc. The festival starts on the Friday before the third Sunday of July and lasts until and including the fourth Sunday of July. The date calculation originally had no reference to July 21st (Belgium's national holiday) but that holiday is always included. In fact, the festival starts on the (Fri)day before the Saturday before July 21st and lasts ten days. The last day (always a Sunday) is known as de dag van de lege portemonnees (the day of the empty wallets) alluding to the fact that many people have spent their last penny at the festival, and is by the people of Ghent seen as "their" day while the stream of visitors from other places ceases.

The first Gentse Feesten was held in 1843. The intensity of the festivities changed throughout the years, sometimes very strong and radiant (e.g. the 100-year anniversary was said to be very festive and lively), but sometimes also very low-key.

The modern day Gentse Feesten were started in the summer of 1969 by Ghent singer Walter De Buck and ex-wife Paula Monsart, along with the people from the Trefpunt cafe. In the beginning the festival consisted of one stage near the Saint Jacob Church. Since the late eighties the festival has grown enormously and now covers the whole inner city of Ghent.

Although the festival has become a mass event, it has retained some of the rebellious and anarchistic atmosphere of the early days. Public drunkenness is very common during the festivities.

About 2 million visitors attend the festival every year, making it one of the biggest cultural and popular festivals in Europe. The number of unique visitors on top nights surpasses 250,000. In a 2005 ranking by localfestivities.com, the Gentse Feesten was called the third biggest city festival in Europe, only preceded by the Fallas in Valencia and the Oktoberfest in Munich.

...
Wikipedia