This weekend, the Walloons party, next weekend, the French speakers

The advantage of a decentralised country is that you don’t have only one National Day, you also have regional ‘feast days’. This weekend is the turn of the Walloon region, next weekend the one of the French community. In total, Belgium has six national and feast days.

Chronologically, the first is the Brussels region, on 8 May. Followed by Flanders (region and community) on 11 July and then Belgium (the federal level) on 21 July.

The Walloon region and the French community have separate days: the third Sunday of September and 27 September, respectively. The German community has its feast on 15 November.

What do we remember on those specific days? In fact, not so much. On 21 July 1831, the first Belgian king took the oath. On 11 July 1302, a group of Flemish citizens won a battle against a French army. Historians doubt that this is something to be truly proud of, for several reasons, but for Flemish nationalists, that day remains important.

The four other days are mostly arbitrary. Brussels chose the end of World War II, as a symbol of the fight against extremism. The small German community opted for 15 November, the day of the Belgian monarchy, to show their attachment to Belgium.

The dates for the Walloon and the French feast days refer to the independence of Belgium since 1830. The difference between Wallonia and the French community is the presence of a large group of francophone people in Brussels, who are distinct from Walloons. The Flemish community and region don’t make that distinction because only a few Dutch speakers live in Brussels. To show those people the support of the rest of Flanders, the official festivity on 11 July is always held inside the Brussels city hall.

Be aware, though, Belgian workers don’t get six days off from work. Only 21 July is an official holiday. Some workers also have an extra holiday on the day of their region or community, mostly the civil servants working for that region or community.

_{#FlandersNewsService | The official speech of the president of the Flemish parliament, now ​ Freya Van den Bossche, is held in the city hall of Brussels on 11 July. © BELGA PHOTO NICOLAS MAETERLINCK}