This year, the Comic Strip Festival is once again plunging Brussels into the world of graphic art. The “Balloon’s Day Parade” will fill the streets of the capital with colour for the occasion and will be including a new Smurf balloon. The Comic Strip Festival rally, for its part, offers a range of activities and novelties to delight visitors of all ages.
Since its creation in 2010, the Comic Strip Festival has evolved a great deal to become the place to go for all lovers of graphic art. Young and old, fans or comic strip nerds, everyone shares the same passion and goes there every year to get a signed copy or to enjoy the many original activities on offer.

On Saturday 15 September, the original combination of the “Balloon’s Day Parade” and the Comic Strip Festival Rally will take over the streets of the capital and plunge it into the world of the famous comic strip characters. The balloon parade will invade the capital at the start of the afternoon. It will then be the turn of the vintage cars of the Comic Strip Festival Rally to sweep into the capital, ending their journey on the Place Royale.

Balloon’s Day Parade
This year, the “Balloon’s Day Parade” will once again pass through the streets of Brussels for nearly two hours. A new balloon created for the occasion in the image of the Smurfs will have the immense honour of taking part in the procession.

The surprising inflation of the balloons will start at 10 o’clock in the morning on the Place des Palais. The start and inflation will take place at the Place Royale and rue Montagne de la Cour. In the course of the afternoon, Spirou, Tintin, Le Chat, Boule, Blurk, Gaston and their new friend will embark on their outing through the major thoroughfares of Brussels.

Fans of comic strips will also find what they are looking for in the Brussels Park, taking part in the numerous organised activities of the Comic Strip Festival.

The Balloon’ Day Parade is currently looking for volunteers to carry the balloons in the parade between 1 pm and 6 pm. Volunteers can e-mail white@beegroupe.be for more information.

Comic Strip Festival Rally
Since its first year, 2013, the Comic Strip Festival Rally has become an unmissable event. This year, the race is being given a new look. The finishing line is moving to the Place Royale, where a car exhibition will be held all day on Saturday 15 September. More than 50 collection pieces in total will be included.

On Saturday 15 September this year, several vintage vehicles featuring in comic strips will be setting off. At around 1 pm, after covering nearly 100 kilometres and making an exceptional stop at the Musée Royal du Cinquantenaire in honour of the exhibition “Alix – the art of Jacques Martin” (greeted by a Roman legion), the cars of legend will arrive at the Place Royale. A wonderful opportunity to sink back into the comic strips of the time and rediscover these rare jewels.

The owners of the cars or bikes that appeared in a comic strip are called on to fill in the registration form available on the Comic Strip Festival website.

At the end of the rally, a jury will award prizes to the crews and cars that are most faithful to the comic strip creators’ drawings.

For more information on the Comic Strip Festival, see www.fetedelabd.brussels,, a website which is regularly updated.