News and Events -----------

The BBCA works to be a focal point for the British and anglophone/ anglophile community in the Brussels area and surrounding regions organising events that are open to everyone and raising funds to support local charities.

All this is achieved through the work of volunteers who give their time to implement events, maintain our website and other activities.

We are always looking to do more to support the community but – to be frank – we are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain our current level of activities.

We need more helpers to lend a hand or two. We need you!

We need people to help set up events, to sell raffle tickets, help with stalls, and similar tasks. Whatever time you can spare would be useful to us. And it’s fun too!

We are also looking for people who can help run our organisation through the BBCA Council. In particular we are looking for a new Treasurer and a person to lead on Events from our 2026 Annual General Meeting that will take place in May.

And don't forget our Community Survey - have your say on what we do!

Click here to access the survey.

Our March 2026 e-Newsletter has just been published and sent to our members contact list.

In this issue we are launching a survey to find out what the community might want the BBCA to be organising and we are looking to recruit more volunteers to help us organise events and activities.

The survey takes just a couple of minutes to complete so take a look and tell us what you’d like us to be doing.

As ever the newsletter also highlights recent community news and forthcoming exciting community events including the BBCA / Stonemanor Moederdag event on 10 May - see you there!

You can access a pdf copy of the newsletter here. Enjoy!

Moving into or out of a rental property in Belgium can raise many issues and be an anxiety inducing experience, especially when it comes to property condition reports (aka the infamous états des lieux). Understanding your rights and obligations is essential to avoid disputes and unexpected and unwelcome costs.

Fortunately, the Expat Welcome Desk (EWD) of the Brussels Commissioner’s office is organising a seminar (in English) on property condition reports from 12h00 noon on Tuesday 10 March. This will be a hybrid event with a limited number (50) of places for in-person attendance and also online access.

During the seminar, property inspection experts will guide you through the key moments of entry and exit condition reports, and explain and share practical tips to help you protect your interests with confidence.

The session will be moderated by Selma Mitri, Legal Advisor and EWD Manager and the speakers are Federico Chabert and Dave Deruytter from Expertym.

Topics to be covered include the legal framework and obligations related to entry and exit inspections, entry inspections: amicable procedures and expert involvement, exit inspections: processes, disputes, and expert appointment, costs and fee allocation for property condition reports. how to limit and negotiate inspection-related costs, and claims after the exit inspection: what landlords can (and cannot) request.

The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session.

This seminar is free, but registration is mandatory and will close on Friday 6 March at 17h00. You can register for in-person or online access via this link.

The venue for in-person attendance is the EWD offices at 63 Avenue d’Auderghem, 1040 Brussels. For online attendance, a link to access the webinar will be sent via e-mail to registrants one day before the event. Remember to check your spam box!

Serve the City’s superb Second-hand English Book Sale will set up shop at a new location – the UrSquare – The Hall in Ixelles – on Saturday 21 March 2026. This indoor location is at Avenue de la Couronne/ Kroonlaan 227 in Ixelles/ Elsene.

Enjoy browsing in a great environment, bring your old books and/or buy others. You will find fiction, non-fiction and children’s books! The books are sold by the centimetre at €2 per cm – and if you are a bona fide student just present your student card for a 25% discount!

Books will be on sale from 10h00 to 15h30 and books can be donated between 10h00 and 12h00 at Fritz Toussaintstraat 8, 1050 Brussels.

More details on the Serve the City website.

The next talk for the Arts Society Brussels is on the evening of Wednesday 4 March and will explore Johann Sebastian Bach's Matthew Passion: a masterful work that combines tunefulness, craftsmanship, dramatic power and spirituality in equal measure.

The speaker is Sandy Burnett (pictured above) is one of the UK’s most versatile music commentators, who has enjoyed a career that combines broadcasting, performing and lecturing. After studying at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge and working as music director for the RSC, National Theatre and in London’s West End, Sandy spent a decade as one of the core team of presenters on BBC Radio 3. Combining engaging scholarship with hands-on expertise, he devises and leads cultural holidays all over the world, is the author of the Idler Guide to Classical Music, is a highly sought after double bassist on the London jazz scene, and was appointed the Academy of Ancient Music’s Hogwood Fellow for the 2018-19 season.

He will guide the audience through music examples, pick out details in the Passion’s score, examine Bach's autograph manuscripts, and reflect on the extraordinarily vivid Passion texts. After an overview of Bach's life and work, Sandy will dive deeper into each dramatic stage of the Passiontide drama, before reflecting on the work's context as one of the greatest Western artworks of all.

As ever, the venue will be the Maison Communale of Woluwe St. Lambert, Avenue Paul Hymans 2, 1200 Brussels. Doors open for complimentary drinks at 19h30 with the talk beginning at 20h00.

Members of the ArtSoc have free entrance, but guests can pay at the door (€15 or €8 for bona fide students) and registration to view the talk via Zoom costs €10.

More information here.

As an expatriate living in Belgium, you may face different situations or issues throughout your life that may have an impact on your assets and those of your family. Entering into a legal relationship with a partner has certain consequences. So, it is useful to know how to protect yourself as a spouse, or to protect your children in the event of life events such as marriage, divorce, or death etc.

Fortunately, the Expat Welcome Desk is organising a webinar (in English) at 12.00 noon on Tuesday 10 February that will cover all you need to know about family law in Belgium.

The webinar will cover issues around cohabitation, marriage, and general future arrangements including the role of notaries, ways of living together (legal cohabitation and marriage), what happens if you do not arrange anything, things you can arrange (marriage contract, advance directive, donation etc), and what to do if one partner dies.

The presentations will be followed by a Q&A session.

The session will be moderated by Selma Mitri, Legal Advisor and Expat Welcome Desk Manager, and the speakers are Elsemiek Apers, Legal Adviser, International Council of the Belgian notariat, and Ludovic du Bus de Warnaffe, Notary in Brussels.

This seminar is free to access, but registration is mandatory and will close on Friday 6 February at 17h00. Registration is via this form.

Please note that the number of registrations is limited and that the session will not be recorded!

The link to access the webinar will be sent via e-mail to registrants one day before the event. Remember to check your spam box !

The Brussels Philharmonic Chorus (BPC) will perform its first concert on 7 March at Saint Jean Berchmans Church in Etterbeek. Beautiful pieces by Arvo Pärt, Brahms, Lauridsen will be performed and a world premiere given for a piece by Nasser Sahim Aljassim specially composed for the chorus and dedicated to Women’s international Day. The BPC will be accompanied by its artistic partner the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra.

More details below.

The recently formed Brussels Philharmonic Chorus (BPC) is looking for new recruits. The BPC offers the opportunity for you to perform traditional and contemporary choral literature and major works in collaboration with the BPC’s artistic partner the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra (BPHO).

Details of the audition process for potential chorus members, together with information on proposed performances can be found in the poster above and via the QR code. In particular the Chorus is looking for more tenors and basses, but altos are also welcome!

If you have any questions, you can email the BPC Artistic Director, David Navarro Turres.

Save the date for the BPC's first concert that takes place on 7 March 2026 at Saint Jean Berchmans Church. Beautiful pieces by Arvo Pärt, Dubra, Lauridsen and a world premiere for a piece by Nasser Sahim Aljassim specially composed for the chorus and dedicated to Women’s international Day will be performed. More information soon.

The next talk for the Arts Society Brussels is on the evening of Wednesday 4 February and is entitled: ‘Art and Revolution: The Russian Avant-Garde during the Steel Age’. The talk covers the role of artists such as Kandinsky, Malevich and Chagall in early Soviet culture.

Before the October Revolution of 1917, Russian artists staged a daring revolution of their own by changing the language of art. Suddenly they became the leaders of the European avant-garde. At the time of the Revolution, some like Stravinsky, Goncharova and Roerich, chose to remain abroad, while others, like Kandinsky, Chagall and Malevich, went on to play a leading role in early Soviet culture, amidst utopian hopes for a bright future.

The speaker is Dr Rosamund Bartlett a writer, lecturer and translator whose work as a cultural historian ranges across the arts. She is the author of several books, including biographies of Chekhov and Tolstoy, and a study of Wagner's influence in Russia. She is currently writing a history of the Russian avant-garde.

As ever, the venue will be the Maison Communale of Woluwe St. Lambert, Avenue Paul Hymans 2, 1200 Brussels (Metro Tomberg). Doors open for complimentary drinks at 19h30 with the talk beginning at 20h00.

Members of the ArtSoc have free entrance, but guests can pay at the door (€15 or €8 for bona fide students) and registration to view the talk via Zoom costs €10.

More information here. 

Are you working in Brussels or planning to start a job here? Wondering how the Single Permit works or what rules apply to cross-border workers? On Tuesday 20 January from 12 noon to 13h30 the Expat Welcome Desk is organising an online webinar to guide you through the essential legal aspects of working in Brussels as a foreign employee. Get clear, practical insights to help you navigate your professional life with confidence!

The session, entitled ‘Foreign Workers’ Rights in Brussels: Understanding the Single Permit and Cross-Border Work Rules’, will be moderated by Selma Mitri, Legal Advisor-Manager at the Expat Welcome Desk and the speaker will be Jeroen Maes, Director, Economic Migration Department, Brussels Economy & Employment. The issues to be covered in the webinar include an introduction to the legal framework and scope, applicable procedures, conditions for granting, and some special categories.

The webinar will be in English and is free to access, but you will need to register before Friday 16 January via this form.

Please note that the number of registrations for the webinar is limited and that the session will not be recorded.

The link to access the webinar will be sent via e-mail to registrants one day before the event. Remember to check your spam box !