. This was a good reason to plan a visit to Brussels for 22-24 May 2026, for the next annual festival.
With three outdoor stages and 28 indoor stages it is possible to listen to live music without needing to buy a wristband thanks to sponsorship by Lotto, Omer, Citadines and others.
at an event. Tim and Meg were unable to avoid this at Billie on Sunday!
The 2026 programme features jazz music in the widest possible sense, including blues, salsa, 'Belgicana', gypsy, hip-hop and neo-soul.
The adapted
BRUJAZZWKND map above shows stages visited (red) as well as other bars visited (pink) or noted (lilac) that were not involved with the festival.
Le Cambridge
Staying near Brussel-Noord station, the first beer cafe we walked to, after arriving on Friday afternoon, was
Le Cambridge at Rue de Malines, 37.
The laminated menu includes a good beer range with local options like Taras Boulba and Zinnebir in bottles.
Tim chose draught
Mystic Krieken for his first beer of the day. Features to admire at this beer cafe include the pale wood bar, tables and bentwood chairs. The floor features traditional tiles in three colours.
Le Coq
A previous visit to
Le Coq at Rue Auguste Orts 14, in June 2023 had not impressed Tim but as one of the BRUJAZZWKND indoor venues, near Place de la Bourse, it was time for a return visit.
On a hot day, most customers were outside and the deep interior was not busy. A table between the entrance and the bar was convenient for a chance to see the various blackboards with beer suggestions.
The laminated beer menu warns 'No cards' and features several Brussels Beer Project bottles. Tim chose
Westmalle Duo, a guest draught reasonably priced at €4 for 25cl. Meg was offered a choice of tea bags from a wooden display box to add to her glass mug of hot water (€2.50). Reggae music was playing which suited the weather. Tim now understands why Le Coq is a favourite Brussels beer bar for many.
Cafe Bizon
James Stevenson, Tim's Brussels-based friend, had recommended
Cafe Bizon. On Friday evening, we found a table inside, near the entrance before the start of Friday's set by Bruno Deneckere & Kathleen Vandenhoudt (
Sharing the Blues - Duo) as part of BRUJAZZWKND. With an Americana style, their music has been described as 'Belgicana' but the songs are in English.
The central bar leaves only limited seating space at high tables on either side but there are more tables upstairs. Tim liked Cuvée Devillé by
Den Herberg (6.2% ABV, €5) which has been described as an 'Orval clone' and is fermented with Brettanomyces yeast.
Cafe Bizon has traditional furniture, exposed brick walls and a beamed ceiling where gig tickets are pinned up, reinforcing the beer cafe's reputation as a live music venue.
Later on Saturday, James led us to nearby
Beer Capital, Boulevard Anspach 89, which has multiple screens for sporting events. On another hot day, the Happy Hour offer of 50cl Jupiler for €3 or 50cl Stella Artois for €3 was appealing.
James also pointed out that
The Big Game, also near the Bourse, has the same offer. These bars may be busy when World Cup football matches etc are screened!
Barbeton
The Le Corbusier inspired concrete bar was the main reason for a visit to
Barbeton, Rue Antoine Dansaert 114, on Saturday.
A review in
The Bulletin mentions that the bar opened in 2012 as a Frédéric Nicolay project.
For the first beer on a hot Saturday, Stella Artois seemed appropriate, especially as the beer menu was rather limited.
A visit to Quai Au Foin / Hooikai, the filled in 'Hay Wharf' of the old
Port of Brussels, allowed a close look at the
Wim Delvoye sculpture '
Concrete Truck' (2013).
As well as public artworks, Brussels is also a good city to find street art and we passed two examples before reaching Barbeton.
Billie
Formerly
Cafe Monk, the brown cafe reopened in 2024 as
Billie after refurbishment and with a house IPA brewed by
Belgoo in the south of Brussels.
Belgoo Blomekei and Saisonneke Extra were also available on draught when we visited.
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| Glomeris - Citadines Stage, Place St Catherine - Friday 22/5/2026 |
At Rue Sainte-Catherine 42, it's near the BRUJAZZWKND Citadines outdoor stage at Place St Catherine and opposite
De Noordzee / Mer du Noord, busy with fish eating customers.
We visited Billie several times over the weekend and it became a favourite Brussels bar. It was nice to be able to order at the bar. The BRUJAZZWKND performance we enjoyed here was by
Trikosis (Sunday 3pm, soundcheck in photo above), a band from the Netherlands who describe their style as '
East European traditional music arranged in a crazy trikoway and own gipsyklezmerstyle songs'.
The long bar looks good at night with coloured shelves and overhead globe lights.
In the daytime it's easier to appreciate the marble topped bar, the traditional bar furniture and floor tiles.
L'Archiduc
Near the Bourse, at Rue Antoine Dansaert 6,
L'Archiduc is 'Brussels' Iconic Art Deco Bar' founded in 1937.
Listed as number 1 in BRUJAZZWKND indoor venues, we arrived after the start of Sunday's 5pm session with Belmondo - Maillard Duo but a few seats were still available at balcony level. The latest album by the French jazz musicians
Thierry Maillard (piano) and
Stéphane Belmondo (Flugel Horn) is
QR CODE 2.
There is a small bar downstairs and table service.
The short beer list includes a range of beer styles and includes the rarely available dark Trappist
Westvleteren 12 (€16). Art Deco and Jazz enthusiasts should obviously visit this bar when in Brussels.
A l'Imaige Nostre-Dame
Between the Bourse and the Grand Place, it was nice to see an blackboard on Rue du Marche aux Herbes at the entrance to the gated alley, with an ornamental metal arch and sign, which leads to
A l'Imaige Nostre-Dame, indicating that the historic Estaminet had reopened after a period of closure.
On our visit, at opening time on Sunday (12 noon), we were greeted by Martin who explained the history of the building, originally a place of detention with prisoners kept in the cellar who would offer prayers to an image of 'Our Lady'. The Estaminet was founded in 1884 in a building that dates back to 1682.
Martin mentioned that the property had been redecorated and suggested we had a look at the two rooms upstairs.
The oppportunity was also taken to take photos downstairs before more customers arrived.
Orval was Tim's choice for the first beer of the day.
As with L'Archiduc, premium prices e.g. Orval €6.80 can be justified for the special surroundings and service. Only the music playing (e.g. Eurovision 2026 winner - Bangaranga) struck the wrong note here!
À la Bécasse, Rue de Tabora 11, only 50 metres away, has a similar gated alley for access and is also recommended for special surroundings and service.
Poechenellekelder, GIST and La Fleur en Papier Dore
Three special bars (noted for puppets, craft beer and historic decor respectively) near the
Manneken Pis fountain can be easily be visited sequentially and this was how we spent Saturday evening, after listening to part of a BRUJAZZWKND performance in the Grand Place.
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| L to R: Poechenellekelder, GIST, La Fleur en Papier Dore |
All three bars have been featured in previous Brussels posts on the Beer Europe blog e.g.
Please refer to one or more of these previous posts for more details and photos.
All three bars are recommended and the tradition of a Lasagne meal on a visit to Poechenellekelder was maintained!
One final brasserie to mention is
Le Corbeau which we walked past late on Friday night returning to the hotel near Brussel-Noord. Previously visited in daytime, it is featured in a
June 2024 blog post and is one more establishment due a return visit.
