What's on this week: 15-21 September

English Comedy Brussels is back for a new season at the Black Sheep near Place Flagey, with American Al Lubel returning to the Belgian capital. Tuesday's gig is also an opportunity to see the Belgian star Richard Ruben try his hand at performing in English, after filling venues in Belgium over two decades in his native French.
19 September, 20.00, Black Sheep, Brussels

Europe’s first festival devoted entirely to street photography was inaugurated last year in Brussels. Conceived by urban arts association Cakri, the Brussels Street Photography Festival promotes street photography as a social and academic tool as well as an art form. This edition provides a platform for over 75 young photographers from around the world. The festival hub is the Ravenstein Gallery, where BSPF kicks off, where the finalists exhibit their work and where the prizes will be awarded. Other events, including a guest exhibition and several artist talks, are hosted by Muntpunt and other venues. A preview of all submitted photos takes place this weekend.
16 September, 6-8 October across Brussels

If you are the kind of person who looks askance at your friends’ blockbuster movie viewing choices, you will love Forum Berlinale@Brussels, a selection of films from the Berlin International Film Festival’s avant-garde section. These are movies that remind us that cinema is an art form. Among them are the Austrian documentary From a Year of Non-Events, which lives up to its name as it records the daily life of a long-retired farmer over the course of year. El mar la mar, meanwhile, creates sheer poetry out of the excruciating trek across the Mexican desert to reach the promised land on the other side of Trump’s imaginary wall.
18-19 September at Bozar, Brussels

Los Angeles-based performance artist Anna Homler made waves in the 1980s with a series of interventions as the wryly pagan Breadwoman, a costumed character who fused quasi-shamanistic chants with live electro-acoustic treatments. A cassette tape of vintage Breadwoman performing with late composer Steve Moshier was reissued last year to great acclaim. Homler followed up the act with the international and transdisciplinary collective Pharmacia Poetica. The group has been invited to Brussels to stage its latest work, Weather, in which Homler makes improvised sounds on toys while German sound artist Will Saunders plays glass bottles and video artist Hans Diernberger projects visuals.
16 September, 20.30 at Ateliers Claus, Brussels

Bozar has a presentation of the best European architecture projects realised in the last two years, selected from the results of the EU Mies Award, a prestigious biennial competition.
Until 22 October, Bozar, Rue Ravenstein 23, Brussels

Explorer is an exhibition of new and existing work by the American artist and sculptor Rita McBride who combines architecture and design with her signature humour and a keen eye for space and context.
15 September to 7 January, Wiels, Avenue Van Volxem 354, Brussels

Sunday is the last day of Brussels Cocktail Week, an event dedicated to spirits and talented bartenders, with food and cocktail pairings, tastings and guest bartending sessions.
Until 17 September, across Brussels

This weekend you have the opportunity to see what is probably one of the most unusual, extraordinary theatre performances in existence. MAPping Brussels starts at KVS but then wanders around Brussels as seven artists from many different disciplines and origins immerse the spectator in their view of this city. The spectators become participants as they are taken from one experience to the next. Here are a few ground rules: the performance is trilingual, Dutch, English and French, but not everything is in all three languages. The performance takes place indoors and out. The performance lasts between three-and-a-half and four hours. Spectators are asked to arrive fifteen minutes before the scheduled time and it is highly recommended that they wear practical clothes, comfortable walking shoes and come equipped with a light mac.
16 and 17 September, 14.00, 16.00 and 18.00

September is an electronic music extravaganza with Nuits Sonores-European Lab Brussels (14-17 September) and Bozar Electronic Arts Festival (14-30 September). Additionally, Nuits Sonores has not only two nights (22.00-6.00) of scheduled concerts at Hall 10 of Brussels Expo but also has a dozen free (or €5) events occurring across the city: tea and dancing at Brigittines, digital garage, a closing party at Café Belga, plus events at Ancienne Belgique, Bonnefooi, BRASS, Fuse and more. And both festivals are coming together in a joint opening event at Bozar with DJs.

The Korean Cultural Centre presents its fifth Korean Film Festival. Always admirably curated, the festival introduces us to the many facets of Korean cinema, a very vibrant, high-quality cinema. We will be exposed to blockbusters, animation, thrillers, historical dramas, kids' movies, gay cinema and documentaries. The opening night is at Bozar, then four other venues in Brussels.
20-30 September

There’s a free exhibition in the Stock Exchange building entitled Sublime Brussels which centres on the architecture history and heritage of the four central boulevards that were created when the river Senne was covered over, completely changing the character of the central city. On Sunday 24 September and 1 October there will be a two-hour guided walk available in either Dutch or French. The brochure with tour circuit included is available from urb.patrimoine@brucity.be

The Belgian Comic Book Centre is presenting The New Wave of Flemish Comic Strip. Long a hotbed of family oriented comic strips, the Flemish comic strip has broken new ground with the subversive work of Brecht Evens, Nix, Pieter de Poortere, Simon Spruyt and Judith Vanistendael among others. The creation of the Comic Strip Art Commission in 2002 as part of the Flemish Foundation for Literature was the impetus for this blossoming of a new highly talented creative generation by awarding art grants as well as providing effective support with translation and international promotion. Whether it be Nix’s offbeat, black humour or Brecht Evens' intricate, all-encompassing drawing style, there’s something for everyone.

Autumn is coming, so it’s time for the Brussels Museum Nocturnes. Every Thursday evening you’ll be able to discover at least five museums at bargain prices (from free to €3 per museum). See museums in a different light through one-off guided tours, activities for young and old, startling vignettes highlighting the permanent collections and surprising exhibitions. This is a great way to work your way through Brussels' 100 museums.
14 September-7 December, 17.00-22.00

On Saturday it's the Family Festival in Schaerbeek - a day dedicated to creative, festive and athletic activities for the whole family, with kite construction, taekwando, musical fountain playing, circus acts and even the building of a giant spider web. Free.

European Mobility Week starts on Saturday, which means that Sunday is Car Free Sunday in Brussels, involving the whole territory of the Brussels Region, the largest car-free event in Europe. It is growing in popularity and there are now many ways to celebrate the emptied streets:

This year is the 200th anniversary of the invention of the bicycle and there will be a Bike Village on the Place Poelaert on Sunday with historical bicycles available for riding, swing dancing, antique market, a historical bicycle parade and much more. At Tours and Taxis it’s the first Bike Brussels Fair from Friday until Monday with conferences, indoor and outdoor bicycle test rides, kids' space, the Bike Brussels Awards and all sorts of other activities. And at its rue de Flandre location, Cyclo is holding its big used bicycle sale on Saturday where you can buy used bikes that have been inspected and upgraded by Cyclo for resale.

In three locations across Brussels (including Place de la Monnaie), Brussels Bike Circus will be presenting funny bikes, a race bike circus, skate, BMX, music, pumptrack and food trucks. And finally, Visit Brussels is releasing this weekend its new Brussels by Bike map-guide which includes eight suggested itineraries, bike rental and repair locations, tips and more.

Car Free Sunday is also a day for jumble sales and flea markets across the region. Downtown possibilities are the rue de Flandre, Van Artevelde and the rue Marché aux Herbes. And to close Car free Sunday it's become a tradition: the Mobilmix Party in a space usually reserved for automobiles. Two years ago it was in one of the tunnels, last year it was on the Place Poelaert and this year… well it's a surprise that won't be revealed until the last minute.

Folklorissimo, the city of Brussels folklore festival takes over the Grand-Place this weekend with giants, music, dances, storytelling, foods and various Brussels folklore organisations. This year’s guest country, South Korea, will be dressing the Manneken Pis with a new costume, will be creating a giant bibimbap for everyone’s consumption and presenting special concerts and dancing. Other folkoric events include, on Sunday, the Bruegel festival in the Marolles with mimes, musicians and marionettes, a parade, giants, and plenty to eat and drink, and from Friday to Sunday the Traditional Ilot Sacré festival with puppet shows at Toone, a bagpipe parade by the Brussels Caledonian Corneymusers, and a walkabout by the Gilles from Charleroi.

Bruxelles Champêtre takes over the Royal Park on Sunday and the Place des Palais (which gets covered in grass for the day) for a day of food, fun, and drink. There are 100 exhibitors of organic products including beers, the Be Chill festival which is 10 small stages throughout the park for performances, an old fashioned carousel and many games and attractions for kids and adults. Also there will be artisans demonstrating their skills and a French slow food area.

It’s Open Monument Weekend in the Brussels region and the theme this year is nature in the city - so not only will there be many architectural wonders open but also special tours of various open spaces. The headquarters for the two days is at the Halles Saint-Géry where you can pick up the detailed free guide - and for those who love books on architectural heritage - there will be a special book sale of books published by the Direction des Monuments et Sites de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale. This is a very popular event so you can expect long lines at some of the venues. A way to avoid this is to choose some of the lesser-known places.