Country Profile: Belgium

As a long-established market, there’s a healthy mix of international players and local operations. Live Nation Belgium runs key festivals such as Whisper, CORE, and Rock Werchter, with major international acts such as Lil Nas X, James Morrison, Bonobo, and Hot Chip playing in the country in 2022. Acts booked for 2023 include Iron Maiden, Depeche Mode, Robbie Williams, Harry Styles, and Lizzo.

German firm FKP Scorpio’s operation in Belgium has put on shows this year by Ed Sheeran, Calum Scott, Fleet Foxes, Tones and I, The Beach Boys, and Heather Nova. Among the acts booked for 2023 are Rare Americans, Inès Reg, and Henry Rollins.

Live Nation Belgium runs key festivals such as Whisper, CORE, and Rock Werchter, with major international acts such as Lil Nas X, James Morrison, Bonobo, and Hot Chip playing in the country in 2022.

Greenhouse Talent and Gracia Live are the key local promoters. The former had The Rolling Stones, Steve Vai, DJ Shadow, and Elvis Costello & The Imposters play in 2022 and has Weird Al Yankovic, Rammstein, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Pentatonix, and Suzanne Vega booked for 2023.

The latter had John Fogerty, Bob Dylan, Toto, 50 Cent, Olivia Rodrigo, Eric Clapton, and Paul Anka play this year. Acts including Camille, Randy Newman, Måneskin, and Joe Satriani will play in 2023. The country’s move out of Covid restrictions has been phased, but Sam Perl of Gracia Live says different companies, due to the government-led traffic-light system determining the level of Covid risk, were moving back into business at different speeds.

“I’d say it is [back to normal], but it’s very nuanced,” he notes of the country’s live sector currently. “The first five months [of 2022] have been fantastic because we had the first shows that were back on. We already started back in February, but others only started back in May.”

“The first five months [of 2022] have been fantastic because we had the first shows that were back on.”

That first show in February was Disney on Ice, which drew 65,000 people over two weekends; but it only happened because the government rules switched to amber just ten days before. “That allowed us to play full-capacity seated,” he explains, “so we dodged a couple of bullets. The fact that Disney on Ice was only going to Belgium and France allowed us to make the shows happen. If the show would have gone into Holland or Germany, it would have broken the routing because those countries were less flexible in terms of Covid restrictions.”

Herman Schueremans, founder of Rock Werchter and CEO of Live Nation Belgium, says that, overall in Belgium, “the business is back to normal and even better [than ever].” This is, he says, down to a simple reason. “People enjoy and need the positive energy of live shows and festivals.” Perl says all restrictions were lifted in May but, despite Covid numbers rising, there are no government plans to impose new restrictions.

The grants and aid packages that kept many businesses afloat during lockdown are unlikely to return if new lockdowns are imposed. Since touring has resumed, his company was able to bring in major international acts like Eric Clapton, Olivia Rodrigo, and 50 Cent, where ticket sales were 90-100%. The acts in the middle, however, are going to find the coming years tough.

“For Harry Styles, people don’t look at the prices, they just want to go,”

“For Harry Styles, people don’t look at the prices, they just want to go,” says Perl. “But the mid-level acts are going to start hurting because people are going to pick and choose – and they’re going to go for the big shows.” Schueremans says that they have had a run of international acts of all sizes confirming shows for this year and next that are already sold out. These include Robbie Williams, Depeche Mode, Sting, Kendrick Lamar, alt-J, Editors, Bryan Adams, Muse, Arctic Monkeys, Pink, and Rosalía.

This, he suggests, bodes well for the future health of the market. Perl adds that the Latin community in Brussels is growing, and this means there will be increasing opportunities for Latin acts to tour in the country in a way that was not possible before. A variety of complex internal and external factors mean the Belgian business is pulling in several, sometimes contradictory, directions.

“The festival business in Belgium took a small hit [this year],” says Perl. “That was the first indication that ticket sales were slowing down a bit. Now I would say ticket sales across the board are starting to go down a bit, but it depends what you’re doing. If you have a roster that is large, you can bet on multiple horses and you’re less affected. If you’re going in one specific direction, your business can be hurt at the moment because there are too many tickets in the market. But for the market as a whole, we’re still selling as many tickets as pre-Covid.”