Flemish city of Halle provides free shuttles and bikes to Hyacinth flower Festival

For two weeks at the end of April, the Hallerbos forest southwest of Brussels turns into a dreamlike carpet of hovering bluebells. On Saturday morning, April 16, the Flemish Minister of Nature and Tourism, Zuhal Demir, visited the forest and officially opened the annual hyacinth flower festival.

After a two-year break in organised visits due to the pandemic, the public can now enjoy the festival once again. The flowers will bloom for at least two weeks. The organisers hope the public will visit the forest by foot, on cycle or by public transport.

“On the many days that promise to be busy, our city will provide free bus shuttles from De Hal train station, Halle mayor Marc Snoeck explained. “Free cycles rentals are also scheduled at the train station," he adds.

Halle train station is just 20 minutes from Brussels Central Station. The free shuttle bus outside the train station runs every half hour up to the woods. Then, visitors are taken to one of the parking lots on the forest’s edge. There are parking lots available for those who prefer to go by car.

Hallerbos' history

The forest is a remnant of the old Silvia Carbonaria (charcoal forest, in Latin), a dense old-growth forest of beech and oak that formed a natural boundary between the Roman provinces of Gallia Belgica and Germania Inferior.

Stripped almost entirely by the occupiers in the First World War, it was re-afforested in the 1930s with oak, ash, larch and, incongruously, giant sequoias.

Natural reserve status

Populated by roe deer, foxes, polecats and countless birds, Hallebos size is increasing gently as the Flemish government purchases adjacent farmland and reverts it into forest. Tree corridors are being created to nearby woods and dead trees are allowed to lie where they fall, all to boost biodiversity.

The forest’s legal protection has been increased to the status of nature reserve, and there are plans to build an eco-bridge (animals only) to link up with the forests on the other side of the Brussels orbital motorway.

(VIV)

Ⓒ BELGA PHOTO (EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP) Hallerbos, also known as the "Blue Forest", on April 18, 2019.