Looks like the lucky citoyens of the dearly departed Jacques Brel’s native city are in for quite a treat over the next four months.

Launching on October 7th, and running through to January 21st of next year, the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles will host an India Festival, with performances by Talvin Singh (whoo hoo!), Asha Bhosle, State of Bengal, theater groups, dancers, as well as art exhibits, literature talks, family activities  and yes, of course, movies.

There will be an Indian film retrospective from Jan 12th to Jan 21st 2007  (the festival closing day), and, according to NDTV tonight, the line-up will include  Mangal Pandey, Paheli, and Manish’s favorite Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi.  

Detailed information on the retrospective is  not yet available on the festival website, nor on the Royal Belgian Cinemathèque that the brochure points to.  

Meanwhile, check out  the very pretty 50-page India Festival brochure.

Perhaps a certain Michael or Maja will make at least one  trip to have a look…

If you go, drop me a line and I’ll give you a list of some favorite places to visit.   Thanks to a parent working for a Belgian company, every other page of every passport I’ve ever had is smattered with stamps from Brussels Luchthaven, and the compact and picturesque city has a special place in my heart.  

Hey, they gave us not only raspberry beer and Jacques Brel, but also Tintin,  Magritte and the Brueghels.   Nuff said.  

Oh, and how could I forget the Mannekin Pis ?   That there, by the way, is the oddest website about a historical monument I’ve ever seen, especially the History section.