The 9th edition of the Brussels Art Nouveau & Art Deco (BANAD) Festival marks 100 years of Art Deco. This unique opportunity to visit venues normally closed to the public allows you to (re)discover Brussels and its different areas through the prism of the city's emblematic architectural styles. As part of the Year of Art Deco organized by the Brussels Region, the programme focuses in particular on this style in opening the doors of private, often inaccessible, homes.

Spread over three weekends (15-16, 22-23 and 29-30 March 2025) and three areas of the Brussels Region, the BANAD Festival offers you an varied programme combining interior visits (60+ buildings, some of which are accessible for the very first time), themed guided tours on foot or by bike, original lectures, inclusive and family-oriented activities, and last but not least the well-known Art Nouveau and Art Deco Collectors' and Valuation Fair.

Among the interior visits, you will find the Essentials (the houses you have to see at least once in your life), the Classics (some of which, such as public buildings, schools or museums, are accessible on a regular basis but not through the prism of architectural heritage), the New (never before opened to the BANAD public) and lastly the Previously New (venues that were opened for the first time in previous years and have been reprogrammed for those visitors who may have missed them then). Among the buildings that have never before been opened in the BANAD framework, the Averbouch, Van Eycken and Slagmolder Houses are gems of this edition, as are the Former Electrorail Headquarters and the Orthodox Synagogue of Anderleht. The venues in great demand among the Essentials and the Classics are the Solvay, Tassel and Max Hallet Mansions, the Saint-Cyr House, the Empain and Collart-Van Gobbelschroy Villas, the Forest Town Hall and the Residence Palace, the St. Suzanne and St. Augustin Churches, etc.

Spread over three areas of the Brussels-Capital Region, 60+ buildings of different types will open their doors: mansions and private homes, office and apartment buildings, but also public venues (houses of worship, museums, town halls) as well as artists' studios.

As developed by the Explore.Brussels team, this edition is mostly made up of Art Deco venues with 60% of the buildings in this style, 25% Art Nouveau and 15% Modernist structures. Indeed, after the success of the 2023 Year of Art Nouveau, renowned internationally and attended by record numbers, Urban and Visit.Brussels now celebrate the 100th anniversary of the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris by launching the Year of Art Deco in the Brussels Region. Thus, lovers of Art Nouveau and Art Deco will be able to access no less than ten buildings in these styles by Victor Horta. Other well-known architects such as Adrien Blomme, the Brunfaut dynasty, Antoine Courtens, Stanislas Jasinski, Henry Lacoste, Gustave Strauven and Henry Van de Velde are also represented. Two names are particularly prominent in the 2025 selection: Jean-Baptiste Dewin and Joseph Diongre. Lovers of Modernism will, for their part, also be able to (re)discover some remarkable buildings with the Marit, Grégoire-Lagasse and Anciaux Houses, the Woluwe St. Lambert Town Hall, the former Masonic Lodge and the former Postal Cheque Office.

Led by professional guides in several languages, these visits provide an opportunity to get to know the different architectural styles and the state of preservation of these exceptional venues, to understand their history - how they were inhabited earlier and the way in which they are used today - and appreciate their many qualities. In addition, this inclusive festival also arranges tailormade guided visits for people following literacy classes and learning French as a foreign language, as well as visits for visually or hearing impaired people, those with reduced mobility, a mental disability or who are on the autism spectrum.

The BANAD Festival is organized by Explore.Brussels, a network of associations which offer quality guided tours in the Brussels-Capital Region (ARAU, Arkadia, Brussels Chatterguides, Pro Velo). For around 15 years these four associations have organized heritage events such as the BANAD Festival, the Brussels Biennale of Eclectic Architecture (BBEA) and the Brussels Biennale- Neoclassic (BBN).