Like many other events around the world, the Brussels Comic Strip Festival also took a pandemic forced break. After two years, it is finally returning to the Belgian capital in September. For an entire weekend, from the 9th until the 11th, beloved characters and their authors will be celebrated at Tour & Taxi.
The first edition was in 2010 and every year over 100,000 participants enjoyed the festival. Murals, exhibitions, cosplays, book signings, animations and many more will delight the spectators. Gare Maritime and the adjacent halls of the venue will of course be decorated with giant cartoon characters balloons.
You will find your favourite characters and authors in the exhibitions, workshops, encounters, screenings, book signing sessions and many other events for all ages. Not to mention the International Pavilion and the unmissable Atomium Prizes.
BD Comic Strip Festival
One of these balloons will be dedicated to Marsupilami, created by André Franquin, who celebrates its 70th anniversary this year. The festival poster, designed by Renaud Collin, is also dedicated to the character, who was first featured in the Spirou en Fantasio comic before getting its own series.
Among famous Belgian cartoons, like the Smurfs and Tintin, this year, one of the exhibitions will also be dedicated to Manga style strips, featuring the well known and beloved Naruto, as well as the robot Goldorak.
Like in previous editions, the winners of the Atomium Comic Strip Prizes will also be announced. A total of €100,000 will be divided over 9 categories. The Atomium prizes are an initiative of Visit Brussels, who wants to support comic strip artists and help finance their work, which nowadays does not easily provide enough for a living.
The festival is only one of the ways Belgium celebrates comic books. With more than 700 comic writers, Belgium is home to the highest density of comic creators and illustrators in the world, comic strips being part of the culture. To honour the cherished characters and their cultural impact, the comic strip museum opened in Brussels in 1989. Murals are dedicated to them all over the country and they are even featured on the Belgian passport.
