Antwerp’s summer carillon series heads for a public-chosen finale
Antwerp’s summer carillon concerts will conclude on Monday, 31 August, when city carillonneur Liesbeth Janssens performs a public-chosen programme from the Cathedral of Our Lady.
The concerts make a major Flemish musical tradition freely accessible in public space while showing how living heritage can accommodate pop, film music and electronic experimentation. They also offer residents and visitors a shared cultural experience that does not depend on language or admission to a venue.
will bring its 2026 summer carillon series to a close on Monday, 31 August, when city carillonneur performs an hour of public-requested music from the . , the city institution organising the concerts, says the free finale will begin at 20:00 and can be heard across the historic centre, with an organised listening area on Leonie Glassplein in cooperation with DIVA museum and Gazet van Antwerpen.
The finale follows a concert by Belgian guest carillonneur on 24 August. According to the museum’s published programme, Stynen translated film music including themes from Jurassic Park, The Godfather, James Bond, Wicked and Disney productions into the cathedral tower’s distinctive bronze sound. For residents, visitors and international communities in Antwerpen, the practical appeal is unusually simple: most listeners need neither a ticket nor specialist knowledge, only a reasonably quiet place within range of the bells.
The Monday-night series has run throughout July and August under the informal invitation to “break up your week on Monday”. says city carillonneurs Janssens and have been joined by performers from Belgium and abroad, extending the repertoire far beyond conventional bell music. Earlier evenings moved from and tango to , , classical favourites, love songs and electronic music.
That range is deliberate. On 20 July, Janssens placed ’s Für Elise alongside ’s Bohemian Rhapsody, , Blondie and rapper Slongs. On 3 August, Belgian ensemble Furo Bells combined Jan Verheyen’s carillon with Cedric Honings’s guitar and electronic production by Joren Rubens. The museum described that appearance as the trio’s first joint performance, mixing dance, drum-and-bass, trance and synthpop with the cathedral bells.
Culture alderwoman Lien Van de Kelder framed the programme as proof that a rich tradition can accommodate fresh combinations and a different theme each week. That municipal perspective treats experimentation as a way of keeping the instrument present in everyday city life, rather than preserving it as an object heard only on ceremonial occasions.
A heritage institution approaches the same balance from a longer horizon. UNESCO placed Belgium’s programme for safeguarding carillon culture on its Register of Good Safeguarding Practices in 2014. UNESCO says the initiative spans 76 Belgian cities and villages and stresses both the conservation of historic instruments and the creation of new arrangements, compositions and genres. The international dimension is therefore cultural rather than geopolitical: Belgium’s bell tradition has become a model shared with practitioners in some 30 countries.
’s programme embodies both readings. notes that tower music once helped shape the tastes of ordinary city residents, while the electronic collaborations and film arrangements test whether that civic instrument can still speak in a contemporary idiom. The concerts also keep the museum’s public role visible while its main Vleeshuis building is closed ahead of restoration work expected to begin in autumn 2026.
The principal city listening suggestions are Ruckersplaats, Bullinckplaats, Vlaeykensgang, Grote Markt, Groenplaats and Handschoenmarkt, although audibility depends on other events and ambient noise. The organised finale at Leonie Glassplein offers a clearer gathering point. The public-request deadline has passed, and the complete selected playlist had not been published by 26 August. The final question is therefore not whether the bells will ring, but which mixture of Mozart, pop and favourites Janssens will send across the city on Monday night.
Impact
Regional — The series strengthens Antwerp’s public cultural programme and gives residents, hospitality businesses and visitors in the historic centre a recurring Monday-evening event.
Local — The finale gives people in Antwerp’s historic centre a free cultural event from 20:00 to 21:00 on Monday, 31 August. Because the music is played from the Cathedral of Our Lady, residents and visitors can listen from surrounding public spaces without entering a conventional concert venue. The event also adds a defined Monday-evening attraction for nearby hospitality businesses and reinforces the role of Muziekmuseum Vleeshuis and the city carillonneurs in Antwerp’s public cultural programme.
What it means for you
If you are in Antwerp on Monday, 31 August 2026, plan to be in the historic centre between 20:00 and 21:00 to hear the finale. No venue admission is required because the cathedral carillon is audible in surrounding public space. The programme will reflect requests submitted by the public, so expect a listener-chosen mix rather than a standard classical recital. Check the Muziekmuseum Vleeshuis Beiaard Live page before travelling for the latest event information.
Opposing perspectives
- City of Antwerp’s contemporary-cultural framing
Culture alderwoman Lien Van de Kelder presents the series as evidence that Antwerp’s established tradition can coexist with new combinations and changing themes. This view emphasises accessibility, experimentation and the carillon’s continuing place in the sound of the modern city.
- UNESCO’s heritage-safeguarding framing
UNESCO places the emphasis on preserving historic instruments, skills, repertoire and transmission between generations. It nevertheless treats new arrangements and genres as part of safeguarding, making preservation and innovation complementary priorities rather than a simple conflict.
Who, where and what
Key people, places and terms in this story
City hosting the Beiaard Live summer carillon series.
City carillonneur performing the public-chosen finale.
City carillonneur appearing in the wider Beiaard Live series.
Carillonneur who performed film themes on 24 August 2026.
Composer whose music featured in the series’ classical repertoire.
Show the full library (15)
City carillonneur performing the public-chosen finale.
City carillonneur appearing in the wider Beiaard Live series.
Carillonneur who performed film themes on 24 August 2026.
Composer whose music featured in the series’ classical repertoire.
Composer whose music featured in the series’ classical repertoire.
City hosting the Beiaard Live summer carillon series.
Cathedral whose carillon is used for the concerts.
City of Antwerp summer concert series concluding on 31 August 2026.
Antwerp museum organising the Beiaard Live series for the city.
Municipal authority behind Antwerp’s public summer concert programme.
Band represented in the series’ pop repertoire.
Belgian band represented in the series’ pop repertoire.
Film represented in Tijl Stynen’s 24 August programme.
Film represented in Tijl Stynen’s 24 August programme.
Film franchise represented in Tijl Stynen’s 24 August programme.
Sources & evidence
- View sourceVRT NWSPrimaryprimary· vrtnws.be· 26 August 2026Retrieved 26 August 2026· 37 days ago· Dated
- View sourceMuziekmuseum Vleeshuis — Beiaard Liveofficial· museumvleeshuis.beRetrieved 26 August 2026
- View sourceMuziekmuseum Vleeshuis — Film classics from the towerofficial· museumvleeshuis.be· 24 August 2026Retrieved 26 August 2026· 39 days ago· Dated
- View sourceMuziekmuseum Vleeshuis — Highest jukebox in the cityofficial· museumvleeshuis.beRetrieved 26 August 2026
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This briefing was prepared with AI assistance and reviewed by a Belgium Impulse editor before publication. methodology.