What's on this week: 23-29 March

The Flemish youth centre in downtown Brussels, Bronks, is presenting Circus Without Hands this weekend, its festival of circus arts dedicated to young people. Enjoy workshops and performances as the youngsters show off their considerable talents as well as professional performers from Belgium and beyond.
23-25 March

It is the last chance to see everything from street art, cinema, architecture, music, dance and theatre, all sharing the same theme of cultural diversity in the Festival Bruxelles Libre Culture. The event features more than 40 different activities and artistic events with the goal of offering a multidisciplinary approach to culture in order to reach all audiences and ages.
Until 30 March, ULB

Babyboom is the largest fair of the year for both current and future parents. There will be conferences so parents can learn all about sleep safety, breast-feeding, challenges of being new parents, and how to calm a baby. With over 100 exhibitors, the weekend will cover everything from nutrition and diet for infants, to care, safety, heath and toys.
23-25 March 10.00-18.00, Brussels Expo (Heysel)

If you have a bike to sell, or are looking to buy a bike in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere, CyCLO's Used Bike Fair is the perfect place to go. CyCLO accepts all types of bikes - you just have to provide proof of purchase. If your bike is not sold, you can either pick it up again or donate to CyCLO. To buy a bike, all you have to do is come in and workers will help you pick out the perfect bike based on your use and budget.
24-25 March, 11.00-17.00, CyCLO Bockstael

If the Listen! Festival wanted to get us off our computers and out of the house to go actually listen to real people make music, then it shouldn’t have created a make-your-own-music website that keeps us busy for hours on end. That said, the line-up and locations of Brussels’ celebration of all things electronic is endless, so it’s pretty easy to catch a show. You could, for instance, head to Beursschouwburg to see American sound artist Mhysa, whose drums, synthesizers and vocals both sung and sampled will whisk you off to fantasy worlds, or you could go to opening night at Flagey and immerse yourself in a full line-up of avant-garde, ambient and electronic jazz.
29 March to 1 April, across Brussels

In honour of the international day of sport for development and peace, the 4th edition of the Play 4 Peace festival is coming back to Brussels. Some 30 different sports activities will be planned during the weekend for all ages. In the past, the event has attracted more than 7,000 sports fanatics, and they are expecting the same again this year. Through the activities, the event is looking to raise awareness of the power of sport as an instrument of peace, dialogue and education.
25 March 10.00-18.00, Tour & Taxis, free

The Laeken soup party is back for a 12th edition. Healthy recipes to sample, local music and more.
25 March 12.30-17.00, Parvis Notre-Dame de Laeken

Come and celebrate 60 years of harmonious music with the European Union Choir's Petite Messe Solennelle by Rossini. With nothing but two pianos and an accordion, the voices of the more than 80 members of the concert will be heard with perfection. Read more about the choir's work here.
23 March 20.00, Royal Conservatory, €18-€28.

Three times a year, Schaerbeek's Maison des Arts, located in a 19th-century château hidden behind the Chaussée de Haecht, turns its living rooms, library and dining room over to an artist or artists to do with as they please. In the 10 years of the project, artists from Marie-Jo Lafontaine to Johan Muyle have taken up the challenge. This year it's the engraving collective Atelier Razkas which has been producing since 1986 and which is celebrating 15 years in Schaerbeek. They will fill the château with engravings by the collective's dozen artists.
Opening night 23 April 18.00, on until 18 May

The 24 Hours of the Cambre Woods is a relay bicycle race open to young people between the ages of eight and 20 that has been taking place for more than 30 years. The 12 to 20 are the main race and the eight to 12 have a smaller circuit. Some 13,000 people participate, some seriously racing for the win, while others are there to show off their amazing self-built vehicles. Massive meals and other fun side events take place. No motorised vehicles allowed in the woods from Friday 20.00 to Monday 06.00.

The Atomium is turning 60 this month and activities are planned for the next few months starting this weekend. There will be three museum exhibitions in ADAM and in the Atomium itself, a rock festival, classical music concerts, summer fireworks displays, a huge vintage bric a-brac fair and much more. This Sunday, Kids Guinguette is taking over one of the spheres for a kids disco party with live music, a hula hoop workshop and make-up and a photo booth. There is an entry fee for children and parents but grandparents get in free. Booking (alicia@atomium.be) highly recommended.

With spring comes the start of the clubbing season in Brussels. On Friday, Libertine Supersport and Under My Garage which recently merged into Libertine Under My Garage present “a coherent programme of Belgian and foreign DJs whose sole concern is to liven up the dance floor” at QUAY 01.

It’s the last weekend of this year’s Banad Festival and the 25 Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings open to the public this weekend are mostly on the east side of town in Schaerbeek, Etterbeek, Brussels East, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre and Woluwe-Saint-Lambert.

Jef Lambeaux, possibly the greatest Belgian sculptor of the 19th century, didn’t worry about what people thought. The result is that a number of his pieces were hidden away from public view by concerned bureaucrats. A statue of his, a female nude with natural proportions, was hidden in the basement of Saint-Gilles borough hall for decades until very recently when it was put on display in front of the main entrance. His masterpiece, The Human Passions, a monumental marble fresco, was housed in Victor Horta’s first building in Brussels, a freestanding pavilion in Parc du Cinquantenaire. Unfortunately the Human Passions were deemed too human and too passionate and the pavilion was locked permanently. The only way to see any of the sculpture was to peek through the huge keyhole. A few years ago it started to be open one day a week, but this year, due to the Horta Inside Out event, it’s open daily from 23 March to 10 October, so both his genius for sculpting and Horta’s emerging genius for interior natural light design are now easily accessible.

Until Sunday, at Cinematek, you can experience, on a big screen the film that launched the Nouvelle Vague, Breathless by Jean Luc Goddard. The Quentin Tarantino of his era, Goddard started out as a film critic and it was his vast knowledge of films that enabled him to remake the classic Hollywood style into something brand new and very French. Co-starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg in roles that have defined their careers.

This Friday and Saturday there are slam poetry nights at Beursschouwberg. "There is so much I don't remember, and still too much remains that I'm trying to forget." Four wordsmiths join forces for a special evening as part of Poetry is not a luxury. Samira Saleh is a rising star in the slam world of Brussels. Koleka Putuma represents the new generation female South-African poets. Jaamil Olawale Kosoko writes from the performance scene in New York and artist-in-residence at the Beursschouwburg Louis Van Haverbeke tinkers as much with words as he does with kitchenware in his performances. Despite their diverse backgrounds, what they all have in common is their faith in poetry as a buffer against a hardened society, which excludes more than it includes. You can expect an evening of musical text sampling, new work in progress and small séances. Vulnerable, intimate, on the edge.

This Sunday, as a finale to Brussels Water Days, there will be free family fun and activities all over the region - guided tours, bike circuits, museum visits, boat cruises, nature watches, water birds and amphibians.