Flanders Festival Ghent is a leading music festival in the vibrant cultural city of Ghent. While firmly rooted in classical music, the festival eagerly explores new horizons through innovative formats and a wide range of musical genres. 

Each year, it welcomes artists from around the world: from soloists and chamber ensembles to full symphony orchestras. The bold and diverse programme features concerts, music theatre, dance, and multidisciplinary performances that blend different art forms. 

A highlight within the festival is OdeGand, a city-wide celebration for everyone to enjoy, that traditionally marks the opening of the festival season. On the second Sunday, Whispering Leaves invites audiences into hidden gardens across Ghent for intimate performances of singer-songwriters and small ensembles. Every two years, the festival concludes with the Night of the Imagination, a special evening where the boundaries between art, music, and theatre dissolve even further. 

The festival enjoys the loyalty of a devoted audience that returns year after year, while continuously inspiring and challenging new visitors to discover and experience the festival. 

Flanders Festival Ghent is a member of the Federation of Flanders Music Festivals (FMiV) and the European Festivals Association (EFA).

Mission statement

Flanders Festival Ghent is an international music festival centred on a high-quality classical repertoire but also ready to take the odd artistic risk. In Ghent and the surrounding East-Flanders province, the Festival acts as the mortar among cultural centres and the link between a glorious past and a fascinating present. Reaching out to an ever wider audience, the Festival is a valuable addition to the existing cultural scene.

Not just in downtown Ghent

The choice of Ghent, with its impressive architectural heritage, as the Festival’s heart was no accident. In addition, each year, countless villages and communes in the surrounding East Flanders province are firmly involved in this celebration of music, now universally known as “Flanders Festival Ghent”.

The story so far…

In 1958, Jan Briers sr. decided to set up “The Ghent Music Festival”. At the time, Briers sr. was the head of the Flemish broadcasting corporation BRT as well as a communication sciences professor at the universities of Ghent and Brussels. His brand-new festival presented eight concerts that attracted a 4000-strong audience. In 1959, the initiative was rebranded to “Flanders Festival”, and seven chapters were added to the original Ghent region.

Artistic direction

Flanders Festival Ghent has become a household name both in Belgium and abroad, with a strong following that keeps growing year after year. This growth is in large part due to the inspiring leadership of Messrs. Jan Briers (father and son) and the oftentimes prophetic vision of artistic directors like Gerard Mortier, Dirk Struys, Serge Dorny, Bert Schreurs, and Jelle Dierickx.

In 1972 the Festival staged its first large-scale happening in all of Saint Peter’s Abbey’s available halls. The current success of “OdeGand”, the grand opening event on and along Ghent’s canals, and “Avanti!”, a musical cycling tour along East Flanders province’s most idyllic tracks, can therefore rightfully be considered the continuation of a long-standing tradition. Pop and world music were quickly added to Flanders Festival’s programme to provide an inspiring contrast and confrontation with western classical music, which has been the staple until this very day.

Not just Flemish composers from the polyphonic era were unearthed to general acclaim—Flanders Festival Ghent also spawned an impressive number of now world-famous Belgian musicians like Philippe Herreweghe, Sigiswald Kuijken, Paul Van Nevel and Jos van Immerseel. Obviously, the Festival also invited all major international stars to perform in Ghent: Sir Simon Rattle, Claudio Abbado, …

Board Flanders Festival Ghent

Jan Briers - Chairman
Stephanie D'Hose
Lucien De Busscher
Ivan De Witte
Hafsa El-Bazioui
Saloua El Moussaoui
Fientje Moerman
Karine Moykens
Serge Platel
Daan Schalck
Jan Smets
Johan Thijs
Rik Van de Walle
Heidi Delobelle
Sophie Dutordoir
Stephanie De Bruyne