The first phase of a large hotelpoject in Seabruges (Zeebrugge, harbour of Bruges) has been started: the construction of a new All Seasons hotel. The hotel will have 58 rooms and will open in the Summer of 2012. The All Seasons hotel in Seabruges will focus on business people, meetings and off course tourists.

During the next 3 phases, the Harbour Garden Resort will be constructed. This resort will have 274 suites, a congresscentre for 300 people and also many welness facilities.

When all phases will be finished, this complex will be the biggest leisurecomplex on the Flemish coast and will put Seabruges on the map again.

Source picture: http://www.apzi.be

From the 9th till 11th of July, there’s a new edition of the ‘Best small Festival‘ Cactusfestival in the ‘Minnewaterpark’ in Bruges. This single stage rock, reggae, hip hop and R ‘n B festival has been running for more than 20 years now and has become a very popular festival the last couple of years, with the European festival award last year as a highlight.

The temporary line-up looks promising again:

Friday 9th of July

• David Gray (UK)
• Regina Spektor (US)
• Absynthe Minded (B)
• Ghinzo (B)
• I Am Kloot (UK)
• Seun Kuti & Egypt ‘80 (NIG)

Saturday 10th of July

• Jamie Lidell (UK)
• Elvis Costello & The Sugarcanes (US)
• K’s Choice (B)
• José James (US)
• Balkan Beat Box (US)
• Black Mountain (CAN)
• Balthazar (B)
• Fiction Plane (UK)

Sunday 11th of July

• Macy Gray (US)
• Tori Amos (US)
• Admiral Freebee (B)
• Heavy Trash feat. Jon Spencer (US)
• Alela Diana - Duo (US)
• The Low Frequency In Stereo (NO)
• Little Dragon (SW)

Weekendticket: 85euro, Dayticket: 36euro

More info can you find on the website of cactusfestival

Since Bruges was the cultural capital of Europe in 2002, the city planned to organise a large-scale cultural festival every five years. This year there is a new edition, starting the 17th of September till the 30th of January 2011.

‘Bruges Central’ will offer varied programme of concerts, films, stage performances, exhibitions and other events over a period of more than four months. A vision of Central Europe’ will be the theme of this major event.

These are some of the main events of ‘Bruges Central’:

• Luc Tuymans: contemporary artist Tuymans creates an exposition about the historical relationship between Flanders and Central-Europe (22.10 till 23.01)
• Van Eyck to Dürer: Prestigous exhibtion about the influences of the ‘Flemisch Primitives’ on artists from the Holy Roman Empire (29.10 till 30.01)
• Laurel on the Markt: Bruges has a tradition in cultivating laurel and exporting it to Cental and East-Europe. The famous flower-artist Daniël Ost creates an oasis of laurel on the Market place (25.09 till 03.07)
• Jazz Brugge: Jamsessions, workshops and concerts on tree locations. (30.09 till 03.10)
• Enter: Social-artistic productions, a festival for all layers off the population (10.11 till 14.11)
• 500 years of carillon, Grand Music Dictation: The famous Giedrius Kuprevicius from Lithuania has been invited to Bruges as the composer and executor of the Grand Music Dictation. (09.10 and 10.10)

More info about Bruges Central: http://www.bruggecentraal.be/en/home

The popular traveler’s website Tripadvisor awarded a prize to Bruges in 3 categories:

• 9th place for Bruges in the category ‘Top 10 Romance Destinations Europe‘
• 13th place for Bruges in the category ‘Top 25 European Destinations‘
• 23rd place for Bruges in the category ‘Top 25 Destinations in the world‘

For the third year in a row, the Bruges beer ‘Brugse Zot‘ won a medal at the ‘World Beer Cup‘. This year it’s a silver one, in the category ‘Belgian-Style Blond Ale’. The most prestigious beer competition awards were presented Saturday, April 10th at the closing of the annual Craft Brewers Conference in Chicago.